Category Archives: Plants

Elephant’s ear

I am particularly fond of any plant that comes with a little tag nearby to identify it. It makes life so much easier.

This is elephant’s ear (Alocasia Macrorrhiza), also known as giant taro. In Hawaii it is known as ‘Ape. I saw this at the Hawaiian Native Plant Garden at Kohanaiki Beach Park, just north of Kailua Kona.

Native to rainforests in Borneo and Australia, elephant’s ear spread to parts of Asia and the South Pacific. It was brought to Hawaii by the Polynesians who first settled the islands, and because of this, it is known here as a canoe plant, a plant brought in the first canoes. The plant is a source of starch from the corms. The leaves and stems of taro plants can also be eaten, but giant taro causes irritation because of calcium oxalate crystals in the sap.

Papaya

Papayas are a curious plant. The leaves cluster at the top of a single slender trunk. The fruit grows directly from that trunk. The scars on the trunk mark where earlier fruits and leaves appeared. The plants grow quickly and fall over readily. And, of course, they produce generous quantities of papayas.

Having said that, what I liked about this particular papaya tree was the light illuminating it.

Kalopa State Recreation Area

I recently went hiking in the Kalōpā State Recreation Area, not far from Honoka’a, on the northern end of the island. I’d been there before, but only to check it out, so this was an opportunity to explore the trails more thoroughly. One of the treasures of this area is that it features plants that were on the island before even the native Hawaiians arrived.

The recreation area is about 100 acres, and it neighbors the 500 acre Kalōpā Forest Reserve. At an elevation of around 2,000 feet, and on the wet side of the island, it’s cool and damp. There are a variety of trails that intersect and criss cross, which allows hikers options from short loops of less than a mile, to a 6+mile hike around the perimeter.

I took one of the longer routes and it reminded me greatly of hikes I’d taken back in the Pacific Northwest where I used to live. Light rain, water dripping from the overhead canopy, ferns bordering the trail, and tall trees stretching up into a grey sky. These were all features of those hikes. Only the species were different. Eucalyptus, ohia, and kopiko instead of firs and cedars.

The photos show – Top: towering trees line the trail alongside Kalōpā Gulch. Above: A view down into Kalōpā Gulch. Flash floods often race down this gully so it’s a good idea to watch your step. Third photo: Strangler figs envelope native trees and take over resulting in weird, twisted shapes. Below: The old Jeep Road, bordered by invasive kahili ginger, cuts through the center of the area. It’s hard to imagine anyone driving this trail.

For more information about hiking in Kalōpā State Recreation Area go to bigislandhikes.com/kalopa-state-park/.

Monkeypod borer beetle

This week’s Sunday Stills challenge theme is ‘A Bug’s Life.’ (See more offerings here.) My last Sunday Stills post could have worked for this one, but instead I’m going with this fine-looking monkeypod borer beetle (Xystrocera globosa), also known as the raintree borer beetle among several alternative names. This longhorn beetle comes from southeast Asia where it is widely distributed.

As is often the case, it’s the larvae of this beetle that cause problems. They don’t tend to harm healthy trees but will bore into the sapwood of monkeypod trees that are distressed by drought or other reasons. While the damage caused is seldom enough to kill an entire tree, it can result in the loss of limbs.

This one hung out on a wall at work for a couple of days before it disappeared, possibly to a nearby monkeypod tree.

Kahili ginger

Kahili ginger (Hedychium gardnerianum), a native of the Himalayas, is a gorgeous plant, which puts forth a generous display of fragrant, showy flowers. Too bad then that another description for the plant is ‘invasive weed.’ It thrives in moist areas – pretty much anywhere on the east side of the island. Its rhizomes form dense mats, and crowd out native seedlings, and birds eat the fruit and spread the seeds.

Controlling the spread of this plants requires its complete removal, but even then regular follow up is required as the plant can reestablish from dormant seeds or scraps of rhizomes left in the soil.