Category Archives: Plants

Candlenut

The flowers of a candlenut or kukui tree in Hawaii
The flowers of a candlenut or kukui tree in Hawaii

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

Candlenut (Aleurites moluccana) is known as Kukui in Hawaii. It’s a canoe plant, brought to Hawaii by the early Polynesian settlers. The tree can grow to around 60 feet tall but is usually shorter. Large clusters of small white flowers are followed by round nuts, which can be seen at the top of the second photo.

The tree had many uses. Oil was extracted from the nuts for various uses and the nuts themselves were burned for lighting, hence the name. Roasted nuts are edible and were used for flavoring. Raw nuts are a potent laxative. The plants had several other uses, both decorative and medicinal.

Because of this versatility and cultural background, Kukui was named the state tree of Hawaii in 1959, replacing the coconut palm. It’s the only state to have a non-indigenous state tree.

Barleria repens

A red Barleria repens flower

Barleria repens has a variety of names including Coral Creeper and Creeping Barleria. This gives some idea of the kind of plant, though it can also grow as a rounded shrub and a vine. What got my attention was the pale purple anthers standing out against the otherwise red flower.

Hapuna sunset

Sunset at Hapuna, Hawaii

After a late day at work, I was driving down a hill on the way home when I saw the sun setting behind a line of palm trees. There was nowhere to pull over, so I rolled the window down, angled the car across the center line, got this photo, and then got back on track. I hasten to add that this didn’t occur on the main highway, but on the way down to it, with no other traffic in sight. I’m not that irresponsible. I think.

Trees and cloud

Trees and clouds on the slopes of Mauna Kea, Hawaii

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

I couldn’t think of too many eerie things amongst my photos. This image of trees on the lower slopes of Mauna Kea, shrouded in cloud, is as close as it gets. This is a fairly common occurrence as clouds tend to build up during the day and often reach this area in the afternoons.

Also posted in response to Becky’s October Squares challenge theme of ‘Past Squares – Sky’ (See more responses here), and to the current Friendly Friday challenge theme of ‘Weather’ (See more responses here).

Balloon plant

A prickly balloon plant

I’ve seen balloon plants (Gomphocarpus physocarpus) in local pastures before, but not up close like this. The balloons are the fruit of the plants. The long hairy spines become stiffer and spiky-looking when the balloons inflate prior to releasing their seeds.

Posted in response to Becky’s October Squares challenge theme of ‘Past Squares – Spiky.’ See more responses here.

Prickly heart

A heart shaped prickly pear cactus in Hawaii.

I saw this prickly pear cactus alongside Old Saddle Road and thought it a good illustration that affairs of the heart are not always smooth. I also thought this would make a good album cover for a country band whose biggest hit was a song titled ‘Prickly Heart.’ There must be one out there surely!

Posted in response to Becky’s October Squares challenge theme of ‘Past Squares – Spiky.’ See more responses here.

Pink flowers

A Leafcutter bee on a zinnia violacea flower

This week’s Sunday Stills challenge theme is ‘The Pink Side of Life.’ See more responses here.

The top photo shows a leaf cutter bee on what I think is a zinnia violacea flower. Next we have a ball of Egyptian starcluster (Pentas lanceolata) flowers and Pinkfringe (Arthrostemma ciliatum) flowers.

  • A ball of Pentas lanceolata flowers
  • Arthrostemma ciliatum flowers

Next comes the lovely marking of a shell ginger flower and the puffy blooms of a sensitive plant.

  • Shell ginger flowers
  • Sensitive plant flowers

Finally, there’s a pink banana hosting a visitor, a gold dust day gecko after a little something to drink.

  • A gold dust day gecko on a pink banana flower
  • A gold dust day gecko on a pink banana flower

Also posted in response to Becky’s October Squares challenge theme of ‘Past Squares – In the Pink/Flowers.’ See more responses here.