A green anole pauses in a patch of sunlight on a ti leaf.
Category Archives: Plants
Orchids
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.
Billbergia pyramidalis
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.
Abstracts: Cordyline leaves
The variegated leaves of Cordyline fruticosa ‘Miss Andrea’ are full of swirls and colors.
Moon Valley
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.
A gecko soaks up the sun
A gold dust day gecko soaks up early morning sunlight on a leaf of an agave plant. It’s a common sight to see geckos and anoles warming themselves in this way as they get a start on their day.
Zygonisia cynosure orchid
In Hawaii, plants grow year-round so there is no ‘spring’ where the first new growth sprouts from the ground. But there are still seasons, times when certain plants come into bloom and then seed. This is one of several reasons why I like revisiting Hawaii Tropical Botanical Garden, north of Hilo. There’s always something new to see by visiting at different times of year.
On my most recent visit, I found this orchid, Zygonisia Cynosure ‘Blue Birds,’ blooming. It is, apparently, about as close as it gets to a blue orchid. It does have a certain ethereal quality about it.
For more information about Hawaii Tropical Botanical Garden, go to htbg.com.
Better Days: Girdled tree
This dead tree on the slopes of Pu’u Wa’awa’a did not die of natural causes. The pale strip near the bottom of the trunk is where the tree was girdled.
The tree is, I’m pretty sure, a silk oak. Native to Australia, these trees were introduced to Hawaii around 1880. When in bloom, they present a mass of brilliant orange flowers, but they seed prolifically and also produce an allelopathic substance that inhibits the growth of other plants. Because of this, they can crowd out native plants, of which there are many on Pu’u Wa’awa’a, so trees in areas where they have become too dense or are not wanted, are girdled.
For more information about Pu’u Wa’awa’a and its trails, go to puuwaawaa.org.
Graham's Island 