Ti plants (Cordyline fruticosa) are known for their leaves, which sprout profusely and die off from the bottom as the plant grows. But the plant also has lovely flowers, which appear on the end of a stalk, as a mass of tiny white or pink blooms.
Red Ti leaves provide a splash of contrasting color against a background of tropical greenery.
This week’s Sunday Stills challenge theme is ‘Leaves.’ See more responses here.
This gave me an excuse to post more photos from Hawai’i Tropical Bioreserve & Garden, which is still closed at this time. For more information about Hawai’i Tropical Bioreserve & Garden, go to htbg.com.
This week’s Sunday Stills challenge theme is ‘Green Macro or Close-Up.’ See more offerings here.
Here’s a green anole (Anolis carolinensis) perched on a green ti leaf so that I could take its photo (possibly). Light greens in the sun, dark greens in the shadow. With all this, I can forgive the anole its powder blue eye-shadow.
A green anole looks wary as it stands on a ti leaf adorned with raindrops.
A green anole pauses on the mossy trunk of a ti plant.
When I see mourning geckos out and about during daylight hours I worry for them. They’re nocturnal and daytime is the domain of the gold dust day gecko, which has winnowed the numbers of other geckos in Hawaii.
I like mourning geckos for the patterns on their skin and their eyes, which are metallic-looking. This gecko has, at some point, lost its tail, and grown a new one, but the new colors haven’t quite filled in and the break point is clearly visible.
Ti plants grow well in Hawaii, so well that they can get out of hand. If they look like doing so, the prudent thing is to prune, but that has one drawback. Where you cut a stem of a ti plant, two new shoots will form. This means that trimming a ti plant is a temporary fix prior to it coming back stronger.
Despite this drawback, I like them quite a bit. The lines of the leaves make for interesting patterns and shapes, especially when the sun shines on them, or through them. They’re also popular with wildlife. Geckos and anoles spend a good deal of time sunning themselves on ti leaves, or resting on the edges with one eye peering over to see what else is around. In this photo, a green anole was doing just that, but found nothing worthwhile, just me pointing my camera at him.
Graham's Island 