Hawaiian Flowers

“MAUNA LOA”. PUA KAUHI
Canavalia microcarpa De Candolle

Anyone who has remained for long in Hawaii has seen and wondered at the Maunaloa leis, those strangely formal, almost sculptured floral bands which have scale-like, overlapping petals in the center, and are bordered on either edge by rounded projections. The flowers from which these leis are made are a typical pea blossom. Strung together and turned right and left alternately, the “banner” or large top petal is then bent back and held down by being pressed onto the surface of a narrow strip of adhesive tape stretched along the length of the lei. The “keel” of the pea flower forms the border projections.

Originally these leis were made from the Maunaloa flowers, which are botanically Dioclea altissima. But these are rarely seen nowadays and most of the Maunaloa leis are made from a closely related flower, the Canavalia microcarpa. The blossoms of this vine range in color from white, through orchid pink to lavender and even maroon. They grow in elongated clusters at the tips of the shoots. The stems of the plant are dark red, the leaves are made up of three leaflets, triangular in form, with reddish venetions. This plant is an annual, growing from large, dark roundish seeds. It is a native of Brazil and grows wild in Hawaii. (Plate XI)

The true Maunaloa is very similar to it in general form.

PINK BIGNONIA
Pandorea jasminoides Schumann

There are several kinds of vines growing in Honolulu which have clusters of pink or orchid colored trumpet shaped flowers, often with a dark red throat. These are usually called vaguely Pink Bignonia, for they are either members of the Bignonia family or closely related. Their botanical relationships are not easily straightened out for the layman, since all are rather similar in appearance. On Plate XI is shown Pandorea jasminoides, a vine from Australia. Others are Bignonia jasminoides and Bignonia regina from tropical America. All are attractive with their pinkish bell-shaped flowers and fine green foliage. Pandorea jasminoides may be seen growing on a wall on the lower part of Diamond Head Road.

WOODEN ROSE
Ipomoea tuberosa Linnaeus

One of the strangest and most attractive of Hawaii’s plant novelties is the “Wooden Rose,” which looks indeed like some wonderful bit of carving, rubbed to an exquisite satiny brown finish. The “rose” however, is really the dried seed pod of a species of morning-glory, as anyone familiar with the ordinary morning-glory seed will at once recognize. The central ball holds the seeds while the enlarged, dried calyx which surrounds it, appears to be petals.

In Hawaii, the vine is a perennial, grown from seeds. Its strong shoots spread rampantly during the summer month, climbing high into trees or covering buildings and fences. The leaf is divided into seven pointed lobes. The flowers first appear in autumn. They are yellow, small, rather inconspicuous and tubular, like the small yellow morning-glory which they really are. After they fall, the calyx begins to develop until it has enlarged into what looks like an immense pointed, cream-colored bud. As this begins to dry, it opens, showing the enlarged seed case. In a few days, the “wood rose” is stiff and brown. About three months are required from the time the blossom appears until the seed pod is ready to cut. These pods may be used as a long-lived decoration; and, since the flowers grow at intervals along the shoot in the leaf axils, graceful lengths of stem with many roses can be used for flower arrangements.

The vine grows generally throughout the tropics but is sometimes called Ceylon Morning-glory. (Plate XI)

CAT’S CLAW VINE. HUG-ME-TIGHT
Bignonia unguis-cati Linnaeus

The three-pointed, claw-like tendrils by which this vine clings closely to trees, or walls, have given it the two names by which it is commonly known. But it will be readily recognized and remembered from the cloth of gold it flings several times a year over everything it covers. Individual flowers are trumpet shaped, with five spreading lobes, about two inches across. The color is a clear, canary yellow. (Plate XII)

The leaves are compound, the paired leaflets being pointed and narrow. The plant is a native of tropical America where it is related to some of the giant lianas that creep through the Brazilian jungle. Its most conspicuous relative in Honolulu is the Firecracker vine, Bignonia venusta, illustrated on Plate XI.

GALPHIMIA VINE
Tristellateia australis A. Richard

This yellow flowering vine is rather rare as yet in Honolulu, but is bound to grow in popularity as its attractive flowers and leaves become known. The color of the leaves is a light yellow-green. They are opposite, smooth, thick and waxen, with a tendency to fold along the mid-rib.

The flowers appear on pendant end-shoots, in long clusters. They have five, pale, yellow petals and in the center a group of short, red stamens. Probably this vine can be most readily identified by this touch of red in the middle of the yellow blossom. It belongs to the Malpighia family and hence is a cousin of the popular Galphimia shrub. It is a native of Australasia. (Plate XII)

GIANT POTATO VINE
Solanum wendlandii Hooker

Delicate, pale, periwinkle-blue flowers appear in large, loose, clusters in early summer and again in autumn on the Giant Potato vine. The petals of the flowers are not separate, but are connected, curving outward slightly, making the flower almost pentagonal in outline. The mid-rib of each petal is of slightly different texture and lighter color than the rest of the corolla. In the center of the flower is a group of thick stamens forming a low column.

The leaves of this vine are not all of one shape, but vary in form from a simple outline to one that is deeply lobed, with the end lobe sometimes larger than the others. The leaves are smooth in texture but have occasional prickles. (Plate XII)

Another “Potato vine” in Hawaii is Solanum seaforthianum. It has small flowers of a rich purple-blue, about an inch across, which appear in loose clusters in summer. They are of the same pentagonal form as the larger ones and have a bright yellow center created by the stamen.

The foliage of S. seaforthianum is small; but, like the large potato vine, varies in form.

The giant vine is a native of Costa Rica while the smaller one came from Brazil. Both belong to the Solanum, or nightshade family.

A close relative is the Giant Potato Tree which has flowers of very similar form and color. See Plate II.

PHANERA
Bauhinia corymbosa Roxburgh

The Phanera carries large, loose, corymbose clusters of small pale, pinkish flowers, during the summer months. The flowers are about an inch across and have five delicately fluted white petals. These may be flushed with pink. Several long bright red stamens project from the center and give the flower cluster a pinkish effect.

The leaves seem to be paired, but are really deeply lobed, their outer edges rounded, the notch cut in deeply. The nerves are almost parallel. This peculiar leaf shows the relationship of this vine to other members of the same family, especially the Orchid tree and the St. Thomas tree. The genus was named for the twin Bauhin brothers who were herbalists in the 16th century.

The flowers are followed by long, flat, purplish-brown pods, showing this plant belongs to the legume family. Its native home is China. (Plate XII)

SANDPAPER VINE. PURPLE WREATH
Petrea volubilis Linnaeus

One of the most exciting experiences in Hawaii is to come upon a plant of the Petrea in full bloom. The cascading racemes of lavender-blue flowers cover the plant completely, turning it into a tumbling fall of lacy blue. The calyx seems like a flower in itself, being starlike, five pointed and periwinkle blue. The true flower is a rich violet in color and looks something like a real violet growing in the center of the calyx. This true blossom falls off the plant in a day or so, leaving the calyxes to suggest a cluster of Wistaria blossoms. Each raceme is seven or eight inches long and carries fifteen to thirty flowers. The plant blooms several times during the year, at least once in spring and again in summer.

The leaves are yellowish or grey-green and very rough in feeling. They give the plant its name of Sandpaper vine. It is a native of Brazil and a member of the Verbena family. A specimen may be seen on Metcalf street, near Hunnewell. (Plate XII)

ORCHID VINE
Stigmaphyllon littorale A. Jussieu

Clusters of delicate, yellow flowers, suggesting small yellow orchids have given the name of Orchid to the two Stigmaphyllons which grow in Hawaii. They are, however, in no way related to Orchids but belong to the Malpighia family. In recent years they have become very popular in Honolulu but cannot yet be found widespread in gardens.

Individual blossoms have five unequal petals of a crepy, satiny, texture and a clear bright yellow color. The flower illustrated in Plate XII is Stigmaphyllon littorale. Its flowers are smaller and more numerous than the cousin, which is Stigmaphyllon ciliatum, but the form of the two flowers is very much alike. The foliage of the two plants, however, is different for while both have strong, leathery, shining leaves, those of S. littorale are oval, while those of S. ciliatum are small, pointed, quaintly heart-shaped and as the botanist says, they are “ciliate,” that is, fringed by coarse hairs. From this is derived its specific name of ciliatum.

These two vines are natives of tropical America.

GARLIC VINE
Cydista aequinoctialis Miers

A vine with charming clusters of orchid-colored, bell-shaped flowers, radiates a most disagreeable odor of bad garlic, which gives it the inevitable name of Garlic Vine, or, since it is a species of the widespread Bignonia family, the name of garlic-scented Bignonia. The flowers appear most prolifically in autumn and spring, but a few may be found almost any time. The white-throated tube of the blossom is slightly flattened and then broadens into five lobes of a purplish-orchid color. At the bottom of the tube are yellow stamens.

The leaves are a rich, glossy green, growing in opposite pairs, so that four appear to grow from one point on the stem. A straight tendril extends from between the pairs near the end of the branch. (Plate XII)

MEXICAN CREEPER. CHAIN OF LOVE
Antigonon leptopus Hooker and Arnott

Lace-like masses of small, bright-pink flowers clambering by curling tendrils over weeds, rocks or trees, announce the Mexican creeper. Sometimes the white variety is seen and there are also pale pink hybrids. In its native Latin America, this plant is called Cadena del Amor, or Chain of Love, since the flowers suggest a string of small pink hearts. The Mexicans have also given it other sentimental names such as Rosa de Montana, Corallita and San Miguelito.

The flower chains branch in a rather angular way giving an effect that is peculiarly picturesque. They lend themselves to flower arrangements of special charm. For this purpose the white variety is often more useful than the bright pink, since it blends better with the average interior color scheme. The only drawback is that the flowers fall rather quickly, but they are worth arranging even for a short time.

The leaves are heart-shaped with wavy margins. There are no petals, the colored portion of the flower being the calyx, with five petal-like sepals. The seeds form and remain inside the dried calyx. The plant belongs to the buckwheat family. (Plate XII)

Identification key

(1) Bleeding Heart

(2) Kuhio Vine

(3) Porana

(4) Crimson Lake Bougainvillea

(5) White Thunbergia

(6) Wax Vine

(7) Beaumontia

(8) Blue Butterfly Pea

Identification key

(1) Shell Ginger

(2) Yellow Ginger

(3) Crepe Ginger

(4) Red Ginger

(5) Kahili Ginger

(6) White Ginger

(7) Torch Ginger

Identification key

(1) Spider Lily

(2) White Bird of Paradise

(3) Bird of Paradise

(4) Golden Heliconia

(5) Lobster Claw

(6) White Anthurium

(7) Red Anthurium

(8) Flowering Banana

(9) Spathiphyllum

Identification key

(1) Dieffenbachia

(2) Green Ti

(3) Pothos

(4) Red Ti

(5) Caladium

(6) Monstera

(7) Rhoeo

(8) A’pe

CUP OF GOLD
Solandra guttata Don

One of the most magnificent flowers in Hawaii is the great Cup of Gold blossom. It could be more appropriately called a golden chalice than a mere cup, for the blossom is nine inches long above its stem-like tube, and wide and curving in outline. It is the rich golden color of a ripe banana, and brownish streaks on the petals increase this suggestion. Its fragrance, however, is the deep, heady scent of ripe apricots. The huge buds, waxen in texture, when they once start to unfold, move so rapidly that the backward curving movement may be easily observed. The plant blooms in the winter and spring months. Its leaves are large and rather pointed. (Plate XII)

There is a very similar flower which is cream-white in color, hence called the Silver Cup. This is Solandra grandiflora. These two are members of the Potato family. They are natives of Mexico and tropical America, where they are called in Spanish, Copa de Oro.

BLEEDING HEART. BAG FLOWER
Clerodendron thomsonae Balfour

The quaint little red and white flowers of this vine appear in clusters during the winter and spring months. The vine is usually rather small and is often grown in pots. The crimson portion is the true flower, while the “heart” or “bag” is the white calyx. The red flower is composed of a slender tube extending beyond the calyx and spreading into five lobes. A group of fine stamens protrudes beyond the flower. The leaves are opposite, oblong-ovate, and slightly rough to the touch.

This Clerodendron, which is a member of the Verbena family, is a native of West Africa. (Plate XIII)

KUHIO VINE. PRINCE’S VINE
Ipomoea horsfalliae Hooker

A close covering mass of magenta-crimson flowers in autumn, winter or spring, is almost sure to be the Kuhio Vine. (The Crimson Lake Bougainvillea, though of about the same color, hangs in long swaying sprays.) The Kuhio vine, one of the morning-glories, is a native of India and is found growing widely in the tropics. It was brought to Hawaii by Prince Kuhio when he was the Territory’s delegate in Washington. For years, a large vine grew over his house at Waikiki, on that portion of the beach now known as Kuhio Park. It is natural that the plant should have been called the Prince’s vine, or Kuhio vine.

Individual flowers are shaped like a long bell with a waxy tube and a wide mouth, made up of five lobes. The leaves are a dark, rich green and divided, usually, into five parts. (Plate XIII)

PORANA VINE
Porana paniculata Roxburgh

A mass of tiny white flowers, so small and so numerous they suggest a drift of smoke, or a light fall of snow, is the Porana vine in bloom. The flowering period is late summer and autumn. The rest of the year the plant carries its thick, grey, felt-like leaves along walls and trellises. The leaves are opposite, either heart-shaped or oval, and rather large.

Individual flowers are shaped like minute white morning-glories, the Porana being a member of this family. The tiny white blossoms appear in huge lacy panicles at the end of the branches. They can be used as cut flowers for a short period before the blossoms begin to fall, and they are popular for use in bridal bouquets in Hawaii.

The Porana is a native of India and Malaya, where it grows to a great height in the jungles. Its name is said to be derived from the native Javanese name. (Plate XIII)

CRIMSON LAKE BOUGAINVILLEA
Bougainvillea glabra, var. Sanderiana Choisy

Long, waving sprays of bright crimson flowers are a conspicuous feature of Honolulu gardens in winter, spring, and early summer. These sprays grow on the Crimson Lake Bougainvillea, a close cousin of the purple flowering species which is so familiar in California and other temperate areas. The purple forms grow in Hawaii, also. One of them, Bougainvillea spectabilis, is a mass of purple in the spring; its smaller, ever-blooming form is the variety parviflora. This same group includes, also, the orange and tawny-hued form, which is B. spectabilis, variety lateritia.

Flower shades of all these plants vary considerably, the purple hues ranging through lavender and pink, while the entire color range in golden tones appears in the lateritia, varying from a golden buff through rich terra cotta red, to orange and almost scarlet. All are practically alike in form. The brilliant color is not due to the true flower but to modified leaves or bracts, three of which enclose the true flowers. The latter are small, tubular and pale yellow. The leaves of the plant are small, rather triangular in shape, with wavy margins.

The stems of Crimson Lake have large thorns. The plant climbs strongly during the summer months, then in winter, its clusters of flowers appear at the end of its branches. (Plate XIII)

The orange or terracotta-colored variety makes a gorgeous mass of flaming color in the winter season while the purples add their exotic hue to the kaleidoscope. The grounds of St. Louis College make a feature of purple and red Bougainvillea, while Punahou School has a fine plant of the orange.

Bougainvilleas are natives of Brazil. They were named for de Bougainville, a French navigator who lived from 1729 to 1811. The plant belongs to the four o’clock family.

WHITE THUNBERGIA
Thunbergia grandiflora Roxburgh Var. alba.

One of the most conspicuous flowers in Hawaii carries starry white flowers about four inches across against its green wall of leaves, or dramatically drops these flowers in waving streamers sometimes two or three feet long.

Rows of buds develop at the branch ends and the flowers begin to open at the top. As they open, the branch grows also until it nearly doubles its first length.

The individual flowers are funnel-shaped with a pale yellow throat, the tube broadening to five lobes. Leaves are roughly oval, or shaped like an angular heart, and are quite rough to the touch. Because of the dramatic appearance of the long white streamers, the plant has become very popular in Honolulu in recent years. It is a native of India, a member of the Acanthus family. (Plate XIII)

The blue flowering species, Thunbergia laurifolia was established much earlier than the white variety. The latter however has outstripped the former in popularity. The blue Thunbergia does not trail its flowers so conspicuously as does the white and has leaves which suggest the laurel, giving the specific name, laurifolia to the plant. It is sometimes called Blue Sky Flower.

WAX VINE
Hoya carnosa R. Brown

Noticeable for its thick, shining, oval leaves is the Wax Vine. Hidden among the leaves are the clusters of fragrant, waxy, white flowers. They grow in umbels, the flower stems radiating from a single point on the main stem. The small blossoms are shaped like creamy-white stars, and each flower contains a smaller star in its center. This is white against a pink flush at the base of the petals. In another variety, the flower is brownish. They give off a strong fragrance, especially in the evening. (Plate XIII)

BEAUMONTIA VINE. NEPAL TRUMPET FLOWER
Beaumontia grandiflora Wallich

Immense clusters of large, striking, white flowers seen on a strong rampant vine, mean that the Beaumontia is in bloom. The season is winter and spring. The flowers are about six inches across, papery in texture and a dead white in color, except for a pink flush on the back, and pale green in the center. They are cup shaped, with five wavy lobes. In the center of the flower rise the five stamens, white and pale green in color and joined at the tip into a point. The flower has a delicate fragrance, matching its fragile appearance. If cut early in the morning and plunged deeply into water for awhile, it will be successful as a cut flower. The blossoms are often used in wedding bouquets in Hawaii.

The vine grows to a large size with long, large leaves prominently veined and a shining bright green in color. The plant is a native of tropical Asia. It is a member of the Periwinkle family. (Plate XIII)

BLUE BUTTERFLY PEA
Clitoria ternatea Linnaeus

Blossoms of a true cerulean blue are exceedingly rare in the flower world, but those of the Butterfly Pea are of this hue. Though small and scattered on the vine, these little flowers are delightful for their gorgeous color and unusual shape. As members of the pea family, they are shaped like a modified pea blossom, the “banner” or large back petal being oval, the wings very small. The banner usually has a white mark on the base. Sometimes the flowers occur double and there is also a white variety.

The foliage is compound, the leaflets being rounded. The plant, which is an annual in colder climates, grows rather thickly. The dried pea-like pods which follow the flowers hang on the vine a long time. The seeds grow easily.

The plant gets its name from the island of Ternate in the East Indies, but is considered a cosmopolitan in the tropics. (Plate XIII)

Chapter VII
GINGER BLOSSOMS

Leading among Hawaii’s special flowers are those of the Ginger family. They are usually exotic in form, colorful, and often intoxicatingly fragrant. The name, Ginger, covers several groups or genera, which vary considerably in appearance although the botanist can distinguish the similarities which relate them. Gingers are not far removed from the Cannas and Bananas; hence, they are reedlike plants, with fibrous stalks and blade-shaped leaves. Some are short, hardly more than a ground cover, others grow twelve or fifteen feet in height.

A native ginger, called Awapuhi by the Hawaiians, and Zingiber zerumbet, by the botanist, grows in the Hawaiian forests. Its leaves form a ground cover a foot or two high. In spring the flower heads spring up, bulbous and reddish, composed of scaly bracts out of which appear the small, inconspicuous, yellowish flowers.

The plant from whose root is made the dried ginger of gingerbread also grows in Hawaii. It is called Chinese Ginger or Zingiber officinalis. From its light-skinned rhizome is made the Chinese candied and preserved ginger, and bits of the fresh root, or the young shoot, often add piquancy to Chinese cooking.

SHELL GINGER. PINK PORCELAIN GINGER
Alpinia nutans Roxburgh

Like a strand of closely strung shells, the buds of the Shell Ginger droop gracefully from the ends of the stalks. Each bud is thin and porcelain-like, white, pointed and tipped with bright pink. These shell-like buds open, a few at a time, and the flower pushes out. It has thin, white petals while a larger, ruffled portion is yellow, marked with red vein-like lines. One of the stamens also has a petal-like development. The fruit is a yellow ball.

The plant is made up of luxuriant stalks of long-bladed leaves which grow five to twelve feet high. It is a native of the East Indies. (Plate XIV)

Another ginger of this genus, Alpinia mutica, is conspicuous in Hawaii not so much for its flowers, which are also yellow and white, as for its bright, orange-colored fruit—like round balls. These remain on the plant a long time and make good cut decorations.

YELLOW GINGER
Hedychium flavum Roxburgh

The Yellow Ginger has flowers like slender moths of pale, creamy, yellow. They rise at the end of narrow tubes above a green head composed of scaly bracts. One blossom emerges from behind each scale and the buds of those above it peep out like yellow quills. The flower has three petals, two paired and wing-like, the third large and looking like a second pair of wings, folded together. There are three slender sepals and a long filament of deeper color, holding the pistil and stamen. Yellow Ginger blossoms have a delicate fragrance, delightful when perfectly fresh, a little rank when the least bit wilted. Leis made before the buds open, have the smooth quality of old ivory carvings.

The plant has characteristic canes of long leaves which grow five to eight feet. It prefers cool locations, growing wild along the Nuuanu Pali road. Yellow Ginger is a native of India. (Plate XIV)

CREPE GINGER. COSTUS
Costus speciosus Smith
(Costus spicatus[2])

Ruffled and fringed white flowers of odd form emerge, two or three at a time, from behind the scales of the large, brownish-red bracts of the costus. These form a dark head, often so large as to suggest a pineapple. The white flowers have a curious structure. The three, true petals are white and rather inconspicuous behind a large, crepy, white portion which seems to be the petal but is really a greatly modified stamen, called a staminoidium. This rolls into a bell form, with fringed and fluted edges and a pale yellow throat. A second modified stamen carries the anthers and has a yellow tip, making it appear like the usual center of a flower. The stems of this plant have a tendency to curve spirally. The leaves are not so long and blade-like as in other gingers and are arranged spirally on the stem. The plant is a native of the East Indies. (Plate XIV)

RED GINGER. OSTRICH PLUME GINGER
Alpinia purpurata (Vieillard) Schumann

Long rosy red heads among the green leaves are sufficiently suggestive of ostrich plumes to justify this name for the Red Flowering Ginger. The head is made up of large, thin, petal-like bracts and is the conspicuous portion. The true flowers are small and whitish and appear occasionally from behind the bracts. A curious characteristic of this plant is that adventitious plantlets form in the head. These grow easily when planted.

Red Ginger is a native of Malaya. (Plate XIV)

KAHILI GINGER
Hedychium gardnerianum Roscoe

The local name for this ginger is derived from the kahili, an item that was part of the regalia of early Hawaiian chieftains. A kahili was made from a pole or wand, near the top of which, and at right angles to it, were affixed long wing or tail feathers from certain large birds, forming a cylindrical head. This was carried, like a banner, wherever the chief went, to announce his rank and presence.

The blossoming head of the Ginger called after the kahili shows an obvious resemblance. The small yellow flowers on long, stem-like tubes form a cylinder around the top of the stalk, while the resemblance to feathers is enhanced by long, red, filaments which are very striking against the yellow of the petals. Individual flowers have the general form of the Yellow Ginger, but are much smaller and their color is not creamy, but bright yellow. The flower stalks may be six feet long and rise above the rest of the plant. This species is native to the lower Himalayan region. (Plate XIV)

WHITE GINGER. GINGER LILY
Hedychium coronarium Koenig

Most romantic of all the Gingers, because of its white, etherial delicacy and enchanting fragrance, the White Ginger blossom is larger and fuller than the yellow, but has the same moth-like form. The petals, however, hold a shimmering, almost crystalline moon-whiteness which seems unearthly. The slender filament rises in the center like an insect antenna. The flowers are lifted in snowy clusters above the lush green of their long leaves, each flower head centered by a smooth, waxen, green bulb made up of the scale-like bracts. Behind each bract a flower bud pushes out. Just before they open these buds are strung into leis which are one of the favorites in the Islands.

The plant will grow to eight feet if the soil is moist. It is a native of tropical Asia. (Plate XIV)

TORCH GINGER
Phaeomeria magnifica (Roscoe) Schumann
(Phaeomeria speciosa)

If the White Ginger is the most romantic of this group of plants, the Torch Ginger is the most magnificent and spectacular. The plant is a clump of tall bamboo-like stalks, fifteen feet high, carrying large leaf blades. There are two varieties red and pink, the one with red flowers having bronzy leaves, while the pink has bright green leaves. Under this clump, in spring, seeming almost like an independent plant, pushes up the large flower stalk. It grows from three to six feet tall and carries no leaves, but at the end develops the head which is one of the most showy things in the flower world.

It is a waxen cone made up of innumerable bracts, pink or red, around which is a frill-like involucre of the same colors. The head is most attractive before the small, inconspicuous flowers begin to appear from behind the bracts, making them rather ragged. The general form of the flower head suggests a formalized torch. The flowers lend themselves to arrangements that can be almost monumental.

Torch ginger is a native of the Netherlands East Indies. (Plate XIV)

Chapter VIII
SPECIAL TROPICAL FLOWERS

Many plants grow out of doors in Hawaii which are only seen in greenhouses in cooler climates. These include Orchids, which often make purple cascades from baskets hanging on trees, and other kinds which grow in the ground. In Hawaii, however, as in other places, the finer collections of Orchids are grown in greenhouses. This is not for warmth, since the walls of these houses are partly of wire screening, but to protect the plants from rain, wind and insects. The best plants of the island Orchid collections are usually displayed twice a year, at spring and autumn shows in the Honolulu Academy of Arts, where anyone interested may view them.

Plants which appear particularly tropical and exotic are those with large, lush, leaves and strange colorful flowers. Such plants do not require growing conditions any more tropical than do other things listed in previous chapters, but they look as if they did and are here grouped together. The ones selected for description do not exhaust the list by any means, but they are, perhaps, the ones most frequently seen.

A good collection of tropical exotics grows in the greenhouse at the Foster Gardens, a city park open to the public.

SPIDER LILIES
Crinum species

In Hawaii the name of Spider Lily is given to a number of liliaceous plants which have similar flowers, that is, with six, thin, spidery petals and six stamens. By a stretch of the imagination these flowers might be thought of as giant white spiders. The botany of these lilies is much confused and the local ones have never been satisfactorily straightened out. But there are at least three groups covered by the popular name, the chief one being Crinum. Others are Hymenocallis and Pancratium. All are members of the Amaryllis family.

These plants have bulbous roots which send up a clump of long, blade-like leaves. They vary from one or two feet in length to giants four to six feet long. The flowers are usually white, although sometimes tinged with dark red, and sometimes they have red stamens and stems. Many of these flowers are very fragrant. The Spider lilies are one of the staples of a Hawaiian garden. (Plate XV)

THE BANANA FAMILY

Plants related to the Banana or Musa family, supply some of the most exotically shaped and colored flowers in Hawaii. The fruiting Banana does not have conspicuous flowers, but it grows as a graceful tree. The flowering stalk holds large dark red bracts under which are the small yellow tubular flowers. These point upward, as do the fruits into which they develop. The man in the fruit store hangs the bunch upside down.

A relative of the Banana which often attracts attention is the Traveller’s Palm, Ravenala madagascariensis, which is not, of course, a palm any more than a Banana is a palm. The Traveller’s Palm has the large leaves of the Banana, but they are arranged in one plane, like the sticks of a giant fan. Some other members of the Banana family are included in Plate XV.

WHITE BIRD OF PARADISE
Strelitzia nicolai Thunberg

One of the most curious flowers in Hawaii is the White Bird of Paradise, so called, no doubt, because of its resemblance to its relative, the blue and orange colored Bird of Paradise. The resemblance, however, is not close enough for the white really to look like a bird, as does the orange. The white flowers grow out of a large boat-shaped sheath or keel, deep purplish grey in color, of which there are often two or three in a cluster. The flowers break out of the top of this sheath, one at a time, like white sails. There are three petals with a pale blue staminodium. The keel frequently is smeared with a gummy substance which must be removed before the flower becomes attractive for decoration.

The plant on which they grow is a small tree, with Banana-like leaves, arranged in several small fans on the order of the Traveller’s Palm. It is a member of the Banana family and a native of South Africa. (Plate XV)

BIRD OF PARADISE
Strelitzia reginae Banks

The long stalk of this flower looks like the neck of a bird holding a head with long beak and a gorgeous crest. The “head” is a pointed sheath, greyish in color, and the crest of the bird is made up of the flowers lifting out of this sheath. There are about six of them in the sheath and since one pushes out every day or so, the cluster becomes larger and more colorful as it becomes older. Each flower has three pointed petals, brilliantly orange in color, and a blue staminodium shaped like an arrow head. The effect is unusual and exotic in the extreme. The flower is scentless.

The flower stalks grow slightly above the clump of stiff leaves which compose the plant. The leaves, which may be three or four feet long, are paddle shaped and heavy, their edges curving together. This plant, too, is a relative of the Banana and a native of South Africa.

In arranging Bird of Paradise flowers, an effective way is to place them with all the “heads” turned in one direction, which gives the suggestion of a flock of birds in flight. (Plate XV)

GOLDEN HELICONIA
Heliconia latispatha Bentham

Other relatives of the Banana are the Heliconias of which there are a number growing in Hawaii. The plant is made up of a clump of tall, paddle-shaped leaves, often ten feet high. The flowers of most species grow below the leaves, but the Golden Heliconia flower pushes above them.

The inflorescence consists of a series of narrow, pointed keels, a deep golden yellow in color. The real flowers are inside these sheaths, inconspicuous and hardly noticeable.

This plant is a native of tropical America. (Plate XV)

LOBSTER CLAW
Heliconia humilis Jacquin

Generally similar to the Golden Heliconia, the keels of the Lobster Claw are much thicker and closer together, and arranged on opposite sides of the stem, in one plane. They are the brilliant red of a boiled lobster and the general form of the keel suggests the claws of the creature. The inconspicuous flowers are inside. As the keels hold rain water, the flowers often start to decay while the sheaths are still bright and fresh, giving a sour, disagreeable smell to the stalk, until it has been thoroughly washed. This done, they last a long time as decorations. The plant is a clump of tall leaves. It is a native of tropical America. (Plate XV)

There are a number of other Heliconias, one of the most commonly seen having sheaths that are pinkish, edged with yellow and green. This is Heliconia elongata.

ANTHURIUM. FLAMINGO FLOWER
Anthurium andraeanum Linden

Among the most popular of Hawaii’s exotic flowers are the Anthuriums, for the very good reason that they will last as long as three weeks if they are cut in their prime. They are, besides, large and exquisitely waxen, ranging in color from pure white, through all shades of pink to deep, rich red. They belong to the Arum family, of which the Calla lily is also a member, and the Anthurium blossom is similar in general form to the Calla. That is, it possesses a large, heart-shaped bract, called the spathe, which is thick and waxen, almost artificial in appearance. From this spathe rises a column, called the spadix, which may be white, pinkish or yellow in color. Packed tightly together on this column are the true flowers, usually so small they are hardly noticeable. When fertilized they may develop small berries with seeds, which grow readily.

The leaves are heart shaped and rather long stemmed and spring from a central stalk. Usually they are grown in pots but sometimes are seen in the ground. (Plate XV)

This Anthurium is a native of Colombo.

There are a number of other Anthuriums, but none with such fine blossoms grows in Hawaii. The others here are foliage plants with beautiful, large, velvety leaves, decoratively veined.

PINK OR PURPLE FLOWERING BANANA
Musa rosacea Jacquin

Hawaii has one species of Banana which is grown for its flowers alone, since the small fruits it bears are not edible. This is the Purple Flowering Banana which consists of a pointed head of rosy orchid-colored bracts. These bracts fall open two or three at a time to reveal the small, upstanding, tubular, yellow flowers which grow in “hands” part way around the stalk. As in the fruiting Banana, the flowers nearer the base are female, while those at the tip are male. The flower is one of the most showy and curious of all Hawaii’s blossoms.

It grows on a small plant, of typical Banana form, about eight feet high, with large, lush leaves. This species is a native of India. (Plate XV)