Category Archives: Flowers

Over the lava and through the woods

The Pu'u O'o Trail on the Big Island of Hawaii
Trails come in all shapes and sizes. Some meander through the woods.

This week’s Sunday Stills challenge theme is ‘Paths and Trails.’ See more responses here.

A Trail along the coast on the Big Island of Hawaii
Some follow the coast.
A Trail over Pahoehoe lava on the Big Island of Hawaii
Some wind through barren lava fields.
A path across Nanue bridge on the Big Island of Hawaii
Some pass next to busy roads. Don’t look down!
The trail to Akaka Falls on the Big Island of Hawaii
Some are paved and have rails for safety.
A sign marks the trail at Weliweli Point on the Big Island of Hawaii
Some have handy signs.
A Walkway over lava on the Big Island of Hawaii
Some are built to carry you above ancient petroglyphs.
The Ka'awaloa Trail on the Big Island of Hawaii
Some trails are mysterious.
The Powerline Trail on the Big Island of Hawaii
Some are clear and easy to follow.
The Hilina Pali Trail on the Big Island of Hawaii
And with some, it’s a long way down, and twice as long coming back up!

The Numbers Game #76

A juvenile Black-crowned Night Heron watches from a Kiawe tree.

The idea of The Numbers Game is to enter a number into the search bar of your computer and then post a selection of the photos that turn up. This week’s number is 197. Captions are on the photos. You can see more responses here.

Orange Sulphur Butterfly on a Bougainvillea.
Gold Dust Day Geckos warm up in the morning sun.
A Northern Mockingbird snags a meal.
A Green Turtle swims by.
A cat in the grass.
Cement tanks at sunrise.

Pretty in pink

A Pink container in Hawaii
This shipping container, parked in Kawaihae, isn’t likely to blend into the background.

This week’s Sunday Stills color challenge theme is ‘Pink.’ See more responses here.

Maiapilo flowers in Hawaii
Maiapilo flowers are white when they bloom but turn to pink within 24 hours as they fade.
A rider in the Kamehameha Day Parade in North Kohala, Hawaii
June 11 is Kamehameha Day and there will be a parade in North Kohala as usual. Pink is the color representing Maui.
A green anole puffs out its dewlap.
A Green Anole puffs out his dewlap to let evereyone know who’s in charge here.
A Pink Ginger in Hawaii
A pink ginger.
A Bee on pinkhead smartweed in Hawaii
A bee on a Persicaria capitata flower.
Hawaiian Stilts in Hawaii
Hawaiian Stilts wade through the shallows looking for food.

Hawaiian Crown Flowers

White Hawaiian Crown Flowers
A Hawaiian Crown Flower bush

Hawaiian Crown Flowers (Calotropis gigantea) came from India originally, and became popular here because they were favored by Queen Liliuokalani, the last ruler of the Hawaiian monarchy. The purple flower was the one first introduced here, back in the 1880s, with this white variety arriving some 30 years later.

The plant gets its name from the shape of the flowers, which are used in making leis. As members of the milkweed family, they also host Hawaii’s Monarch Butterflies. The plant has a milky sap that is toxic, but that Monarchs, and their caterpillars, are immune to. The caterpillars are voracious eaters, decimating the Crown Flower leaves, but the plant will bounce back after the caterpillars pupate. The plant is drought tolerant and does well on the dry side of the island here.

Hawaiian Crown Flower seeds