Tag Archives: Milo

Shade tree, hold the shade

A misshapen Milo tree at Upolu Airport, Hawaii

Almost five years ago, I posted a photo of this Milo tree (here). It had been planted as a shade tree and there was a picnic table beside it. However, the tree had grown with a 90° bend, a result of the strong winds that blow here.

A few days ago, I went for a walk on the coast there, for the first time in ages, and this is what I saw. I’m assuming the tree was pruned like this in the hope that new growth would be in a more normal direction. I doubt that will happen, though the winds aren’t as consistently strong these days. Oh, and the picnic table, that had gone before my previous post, never did return.

Tune in again in five years for more exciting developments!

The Numbers Game #100

Small planes at Upolu Airport, Hawaii — A fly-in at Upolu AIrport

The idea of The Numbers Game is to enter a number into the search bar of your computer and then post a selection of the photos that turn up. This week’s number is 222. Captions are on the photos. You can see more responses here.

Also posted for Becky’s Squares: Shadows. See more responses here.

A female blackstripe coris in the waters off Hawaii — A Blackstripe Coris.

A spotted pufferfish in the waters off the Big Island of Hawaii — A Blackstripe Coris.

The flower of a milo tree in Hawaii — A Milo flower

Chrysodeixis eriosoma moth

Chrysodeixis eriosoma, also known as the green garden looper, is a bit of a pest, though it’s the caterpillar, rather than the moth that is the problem. It has spread far and wide, and was first noted in Hawaii back in 1877. This one was on a native Milo flower.

The Numbers Game #42

Two Humpback whales swim in the waters off Hawaii — A pair of Humpback Whales off the North Kohala coast.

The idea of The Numbers Game is to enter a number into the search bar of your computer and then post a selection of the photos that turn up. This week’s number is 163. Captions are on the photos. You can see more responses here.

The flowers of a milo tree in Hawaii — Milo flowers.

Hilina Pali Trail in Hawaii Volcanoes National Park — Hilina Pali Trailhere

Many fish make the reef home — Hilina Pali Trailhere

Wasp and Milo flower

I saw several wasps flitting around a Milo tree at Lapakahi recently. What I found interesting was that none of them paid attention to the flowers, but they were more interested in the buds about to bloom. Not sure what that was about.

Floral apricots

This week’s Sunday Stills color challenge theme is ‘Apricot.’ See more responses here. I thought I’d go with some florals for this one.

The top photo is a powderpuff flower, and below that, a beehive ginger. At the bottom we have two views, close and closer, of a milo flower.

Three views of a Milo flower

I saw this Milo (Thespesia populnea) flower during a walk on the South Kohala coast and liked the different views it afforded. Milo is a canoe plant, brought to Hawaii by Polynesian settlers. It’s similar to another canoe plant, Hau (Hibiscus tiliaceus), but Milo is more of a tree and has different shaped leaves, pointed as opposed to heart-shaped.

Misshapen Milo

A milo tree shaped by the wind at Upolu Airport Hawaii

This Milo tree was planted at Upolu Airport several years ago to provide shade for those visiting the area. The picnic table was positioned around the same time and chained to the tree so that no one would nick it!

Fast forward a few years, and the tree has grown and does provide shade, but it’s not what one might think of as a typical shade tree. The robust trade winds that blow here have given the tree its odd shape, a 90° bend not being typical of Milo trees growth. However, it still produces the most lovely blooms that I’ve posted about before here.

It will be interesting to see what it looks like in another five years. Probably a somewhat larger version of this photo, unless the winds get the better of it.

Posted in response to this month’s Becky’s Squares challenge theme of ‘Odd.’ See more responses here.

Graham's Island

Life on the Big Island of Hawaii