Purple allamanda is a member of the dogbane (Apocynaceae) family. It’s an evergreen tropical shrub that produces a generous display of large flowers. However, all the parts of the plant are toxic if swallowed and the milky white sap can be irritating for skin, so be warned.
The painted lady butterfly is one of the most common butterflies in the world, but it’s only recently that I’ve spotted a few of them in Hawaii. This isn’t because they’re a recent introduction. They’ve been around here since the late 1800s. I guess I just haven’t been visiting the right areas.
I just liked the look of this leaf on a moss-covered asphalt path.
A green anole pauses in a patch of sunlight on a ti leaf.
This week’s WordPress photo challenge is ‘Variations on a theme.’ One of my first thoughts was orchids. It’s a family of flowers that is constantly changing as one plant is crossed with another to produce something a little different. So this is a collage of some orchids I’ve photographed at Hawaii Tropical Botanical Garden.
For more information about Hawaii Tropical Botanical Garden, go to htbg.com.
Another post based on the theme of this week’s WordPress Photo Challenge, which is ‘Silence.’
I like to visit Hawaii Tropical Botanical Garden a few times a year. The last time I was there, I got the last spot in the parking lot and expected to spend the morning elbowing my way through crowds. Imagine my surprise when I set out on the path into the garden and found it deserted. No one going down ahead of me, no one puffing their way up either. For a few minutes it was just me and a profusion of tropical plants, one of which was this Billbergia pyramidalis.
Billbergia pyramidalis is a bromeliad, also known as ‘Flaming torch.’ I wonder why?
For more information about Hawaii Tropical Botanical Garden, go to htbg.com.
The variegated leaves of Cordyline fruticosa ‘Miss Andrea’ are full of swirls and colors.
This plant, with the splendid foliage, is Pilea Mollis or Pilea involucrata and is a member of the Urticaceae or nettle family. It hails from the West Indies and is also known as the friendship plant because it easily propagates from cuttings.
Graham's Island 