There are several plants known as zebra plant, all with strongly patterned foliage. This one is Calathea zebrina var. humilior.
Tag Archives: Hawai’i Tropical Botanical Garden
Phalaenopsis Yu Pin Star Dancer Orchid
Orchids have a unique flower structure, which this Phalaenopsis orchid shows off.
They’re bilaterally symmetrical, the left and right halves being mirror images. The column in the center of the flower is a fusion of the male and female parts. They have three petals in an inner whorl and three sepals, usually as big as the petals, in an outer whorl.
The lower petal is the lip on which pollinators land. When the flower is in the budding stage, this lip starts out at the top. In most orchids, as the flower opens, it rotates until the lip is at the bottom, a process called resupination. Not all orchids do this. Some remain in the original upside down position and some rotate a full circle until they’re back where they started.
Tree poinsettia
The tree poinsettia (Warszewiczia Coccinea) is the national flower of Trinidad and Tobago. It’s not related to true poinsettias (Euphorbia pulcherrima), but is equally showy with its brilliant red bracts.
Leaf patterns
Tropical plants tend to grow vigorously, which means they’re constantly bumping into, and mingling, with their neighbors in a botanical collage. The prime components here are Alocasia micholitziana and Calathea bella with a few others thrown in for good measure.
Heliconia Schumaniana “San Lorenzo”
I saw this striking Heliconia Schumaniana at Hawaii Tropical Botanical Garden, north of Hilo.
For more information about Hawaii Tropical Botanical Garden, go to htbg.com.
‘Malay Rose’ torch ginger
These ‘Malay Rose’ torch ginger (Etlingera venusta) flowers were in bloom on my last visit to Hawaii Tropical Botanical Garden.
For more information about Hawaii Tropical Botanical Garden, go to htbg.com.
Rose grape
This week’s posts are in response to the WordPress photo challenge on the theme of ‘evanescent.’
A few times a year, I like to visit Hawaii Tropical Botanical Garden, which is just north of Hilo on the east side of the Big Island. It’s a wonderful garden, set in a fairly deep gully, with a wide array of plants.
In tropical Hawaii, plants do well year round, but there are still seasons. Different plants flower at different times, so each visit is different. The nice thing about this is there’s always something new to see, such as this rose grape (Medinilla magnifica). The downside is that when I get home and look at my photos, I realize I don’t know what half of the plants are. So I figure I’ll see if I can find a tag next time I visit. But next time, the plant’s not flowering so I have trouble locating exactly what I was looking at.
Ultimately it boils down to me making a mental note to come back, same time next year, when it will be flowering again. Unfortunately, my mental notes have no chance of surviving that long, so the next year I see the flower again, take a new photo, and it’s not until I get home that I realize I already have a photo, still don’t know what it is, and will need to return next year etc., etc., etc.
But the thing is, I don’t really mind this. I just enjoy being at the garden, and appreciating the moments while I’m there.
For more information about Hawaii Tropical Botanical Garden, go to htbg.com.
Doritaenopsis hybrid orchid
As with most of my orchid photos, I include the words ‘I think’ when it comes to talking about what it is. I think this is a Doritaenopsis hybrid. Doritaenopsis orchids are a cross of Phaleanopsis and Doritis orchids, in this case Champion Lightning and Chianxen Magpie. This one was at Hawaii Tropical Botanical Garden.
For more information about Hawaii Tropical Botanical Garden, go to htbg.com.
Graham's Island 