This phragmipedium orchid is Eric Young 4N, a hybrid of Mont Millars and Sorcerer’s Apprentice. It belongs to the family of slipper orchids and was at Hawaii Tropical Botanical Garden near Hilo.
For more information about Hawaii Tropical Botanical Garden, go to htbg.com.
I think these are Cook pines, but what I liked was that there was a long line of extremely tall trees that formed this abstract kind of wall.
I was very pleased with this photo for several reasons. First is that I was lucky to notice the Japanese white-eye flitting through the foliage at all. Second is that I saw where it landed. Third is that I was able to focus in through a tangle of leaves and flowers. And fourth is that this is the only shot I got before it took off again.
Clerodendrum paniculatum is known as the pagoda plant. When I last visited Hawaii Tropical Botanical Garden in mid July it seemed like there were fewer plants in bloom than when I’ve visited at other times of the year. But the pagoda plants were rampant and putting on quite a show.
For more information about Hawaii Tropical Botanical Garden, go to htbg.com.
Blue ginger (Dichorisandra thyrsiflora) is not really a ginger but is in the same family as spiderworts (tradescantias). It’s grown primarily for its striking blue flowers.
I’ve posted a photo of a cannonball tree (Couroupita guianensis) before, here. That one focused on the cannonballs that give the tree its name. On this occasion I was taken by the flowers which can vary in color from pink to deep red. These flowers were on the pink end of the scale. The flowers are also fragrant, especially in the early morning and evening.
The flowers grow directly off the tree trunk and all the way up, but it takes a closer look to really appreciate how beautiful they are.
I was very taken by the colors when I saw this gold dust day gecko on a stem of red bamboo at Hawaii Tropical Botanical Garden near Hilo.
For more information about Hawaii Tropical Botanical Garden, go to htbg.com.
The main attraction of Wailuku River State Park, in Hilo, is Rainbow Falls. But at the top of the hill are these huge banyan trees.
Banyans are not just a huge sprawl of branches, but a sprawl of roots, too. As epiphytes they begin life growing on other trees, from seeds dispersed there by birds. Over time, they send roots down to the ground, known as prop roots, which help support the mass of branches.
Banyan trees are also known as strangler figs because their roots and branches will ultimately overwhelm the host tree and kill it. Eventually, the dead host will decay and leave a hollow center to the banyan tree that’s left.
By continuing to send down prop roots, banyans grow out as well as up. Very old trees can cover a huge area. For example, the Great Banyan Tree in Kolkata, India is more than 250 years old. Its covers around four acres and has more than 3,500 prop roots. Here in Hawaii, the largest banyan grows in Lahaina on Maui. Planted in 1873, it now has 16 main trunks and covers two thirds of an acre.
The Rainbow Falls trees aren’t that large, but they’re coming along nicely.
Graham's Island 