Hawaiian Flowers

The leaves are luxuriant, each one from eighteen inches to two feet long. The leaf is made up of many pairs of large leaflets, which increase in size from the base to the tip. The plant is probably a native of tropical America, but is widely grown in the tropics.

CORAL PLANT
Russelia juncea Zuccarini

Tiny, tubular red flowers, growing loosely over the drooping sprays of a graceful bush have again suggested coral and given the name of Coral plant to this shrub. The sprays may grow to six feet, with stems and a few leaves of greyish green. Individual flowers are about an inch long, tubular, and hang loosely on slender angular stems. The plant is a native of Mexico and belongs to the Figwort family. (Plate VII)

LIPSTICK PLANT
Bixa orellana Linnaeus

Seedpods of the lipstick plant are extremely ornamental and are often used as dried floral material. They are covered with heavy soft, dark hairs, deep red when fresh and turning to stiff brown as they dry. The pointed pod splits to reveal rows of seeds covered with a red powdery material. This red covering provides the annotto dye of commerce, used among other things for coloring oleomargarine, butter and cheese. It is not produced commercially in Hawaii, but the plants are grown for this purpose in tropical America, where they are native. The name Lipstick plant was produced locally on the spur of the moment when a name was needed, based on the way the red material smeared the skin.

Flowers of this plant, which appear in summer, are pale orchid pink, the five petals surrounding a central mass of lavender stamens. The foliage is dark green and prominently veined. The shrub may attain almost the proportions of a small tree. Specimens grow in Iolani Palace grounds across from the Library of Hawaii. The plant is a member of the Bixa family. (Plate VII)

BRUNFELSIA
Brunfelsia hopeana Bentham

A shrub curiously covered in spring with both blue and white flowers, superficially suggesting pansies in form, is the Brunfelsia. The two colorings are due to the fact that the flowers are a soft lavender blue when they open but fade to almost pure white before they fall. They have five velvety petals, which are actually the lobes of a slender tube, and they give off a delicate fragrance.

The shrub is woody, with light grey bark and sparse dark green leaves. This species is a native of Brazil. A specimen grows on Metcalf street near Hunnewell. (Plate VII)

Another Brunfelsia grows in Honolulu with white flowers which turn a deep cream as they grow older. This is B. americana, a native of tropical America. It is almost scentless by day, but develops fragrance after dark. Both are members of the nightshade family.

COTTON
Gossypium barbadense Linnaeus

The cotton plant is a cousin of the Hibiscus and in Hawaii grows to be a tall shrub which is often used in gardens. The yellow flowers are formed like Hibiscus, but do not open widely. As they fade, they become tinged with purple, a color change which suggests the related Hau and Milo blossoms. The seed case is large, round and pointed and partly covered by three fringed bracts. When it opens the boll of white cotton, in which are the seeds, breaks out. This fluff of white fiber remains on the plant for a long time, suggesting a different kind of blossom. In Hawaii the local cotton is sometimes gathered and used for homemade mattresses, but it is inferior in quality.

Cotton leaves are heart-shaped and velvety, due to whitish hairs which cover them and give a greyish green appearance to the plant. (Plate VII)

ILIMA
Sida fallax Walpers

Another close relative of the Hibiscus is the Ilima, a native plant which has orange flowers about an inch across, looking like miniature Hibiscus blooms. The color ranges in tone from light yellow through orange and buff, to brownish red, but the orange color is the most popular. Leaves and stems are covered with whitish hairs creating a velvety effect. The plant grows as a small shrub, rather straggling in appearance. It is seldom cultivated except by the lei makers, but is found wild in dry places. It also grows on other South Sea islands.

Leis made of these thin, silky flowers are the originals of the often-seen orange paper leis, like paper ropes about an inch in diameter. The paper leis, which are so artificial looking, are nevertheless really very much like the flower originals. The true Ilima lei has the soft texture of flesh, created by great numbers of the flowers being strung flatly together. In early days such leis were reserved for royalty and they are still called the royal lei. The Ilima is the flower of the Island of Oahu. (Plate VII)

THUNBERGIA
Thunbergia erecta T. Anderson

Rich purple-blue flowers with golden throats are Thunbergias, closely related to the white and blue flowering vines of the same name. The velvety purple petals are lobes expanding a tube that is whitish without and bright yellow within. The flowers grow singly in leaf axils, emerging from a pair of whitish bracts. The blossoms are thin and delicate and fade almost at once after being picked.

There is a pure white flowering form with yellow throat.

The plant is an open, rather straggling shrub, about five feet high. Its slender branches bear small opposite leaves, rather pointed at either end. It is a native of tropical west Africa and belongs to the Acanthus family. (Plate VII)

MOCK ORANGE
Murraya exotica Linnaeus

The Mock Orange bears flowers several times a year in sporadic outbursts which cover the plant with clusters of small snowy blossoms. At such times the fragrance nearby is so intense that no one in the vicinity can miss it. The Mock Orange is a true member of the Citrus family and has the delightful scent which they all possess. Individual flowers are five petaled, and waxy, like a very small orange blossom. When these petals fall they cover the ground with white. The fruit is a small red ball filled with a large seed. It is not edible, but very bitter.

Between periods of bloom the shrub, which may become a small tree, remains attractive in its small, glossy, dark green foliage. Leaves are compound, the leaflets being about two inches long and pointed. This shrub is a native of tropical Asia and widely grown. (Plate VII)

JUSTICIA
Odontonema strictum Kuntze
(Justicia carnea)

The Justicia bears stiff, upright spikes of red flowers, each one a waxy little cornucopia with five small lobes. The flower stalk is a mass of buds, of which only a few, up and down its length, develop at a time giving it a rather ragged and irregular appearance, but prolonging its blooming season almost indefinitely. The open flowers fall quickly.

The plant is herbaceous and grows about five feet high. Its leaves are bright green and glossy, large, pointed, and with prominent veins. It is a native of tropical America and belongs to the Acanthus family. (Plate VII)

DWARF POINCIANA. PRIDE OF BARBADOES
Caesalpinia pulcherrima (L.) Swartz

Bright clusters of fiery scarlet and yellow flowers growing on the higher branch tips of a tall shrub or small tree, announce the Dwarf Poinciana. While not a true Poinciana, it is a close relative, so that its common name is not far amiss. Individual flowers are smaller, but quite similar in form to those of Royal Poinciana, with five crepy spreading petals and a colored calyx. The petals are sometimes margined with yellow which gives added brilliance to the effect. Very long stamens and pistil project from the center. Unlike Poinciana, the plant blooms most of the year. Flat seedpods follow the flowers. There is an all-yellow flowered form.

The leaves are doubly compound, with many small rounded leaflets along the pinnae. It is a legume, and widely grown in the tropics. In India it is the sacred flower of Siva. Specimens grow in the University of Hawaii grounds. (Plate VIII)

A similar plant with flowers of bright yellow but with conspicuous, long, red stamens is Caesalpinia gilliesii, sometimes called Bird of Paradise.

CHENILLE PLANT
Acalypha hispida Burmann

One of the strangest looking of tropical shrubs bears long, thin velvety tails of dark red, which well deserve the common name of Chenille plant, or sometimes, Redhot Cat-tails. The shrub will attain eight feet and presents a striking appearance with these long, crimson, flower spikes hanging from among the large green leaves. The tails are made up of the staminate flowers, which have no petals; pistillate flowers are inconspicuous. A fine plant grows in front of Gumps at Waikiki. The shrub is a member of the Euphorbia family and a native of the East Indies. (Plate VIII)

CAPE HONEYSUCKLE
Tecomaria capensis (Lindley) Seemann

The orange red flowers of this shrub have the typical trumpet form of the Bignonias, to which family it belongs. The slightly curving tube broadens into five lobes, beyond which extend the yellow stamens. The flowers appear in small clusters at the branch ends.

The shrub is sprawling and vinelike, often used as a ground cover. It may be seen at the University of Hawaii. It has small, compound leaves notably dark green in color, each leaflet having a serrated margin. Its specific name, capensis, reveals its native home to be South Africa.

CREPE MYRTLE
Lagerstroemia indica Linnaeus

In midsummer there is a sudden burst of bright, pink blossoms in Honolulu, due to the flowering of the Crepe Myrtle. Most of these plants are shrubs, but sometimes they attain the size of a small tree. The exceedingly frilled, fringed and crepy petals, five to a flower, occur in such fluffy masses that individual blossoms are often hard to distinguish. There is a white variety and some vary in color to lavender.

Leaves are small, leathery, smooth above, but rough beneath. The stems are brown. The bark, when the plant attains tree size, is so smooth that in some Oriental countries, where it is native, it is called a “monkey slide” tree. (Plate VIII)

A large tree in the Foster Garden bears heads of lavender bloom in summer, making a very striking appearance. This tree is Lagerstroemia speciosa.

Crepe myrtles belong to the Henna family and are natives of the Far East.

CROWN FLOWER. GIANT INDIAN MILKWEED
Calotropis gigantea R. Brown

The Crown Flower derives its name from its oddly shaped blossoms which rise in clusters at the branch ends. The flowers are a grayish lavender or a greenish white, the latter being more popular for lei making than the former. Above the five thick, starlike, greenish petals rises a miniature crown which looks as if it had been carved from white jade. It is tipped by the stamens and the five pointed style. These “crowns,” when stripped from the flower, are strung into leis which appear like carved beads; indeed, they have been imitated in carved ivory, perhaps the best of all the imitation flower leis.

The shrub grows rather tall. It is whitish, the stems and thick leaves being covered with down. When cut, the stems give off a milky juice as do other members of the Milkweed family. This plant is a native of India, where, like the Caesalpinia, it is sacred to Siva. (Plate VIII)

BEACH NAUPAKA
Scaevola frutescens (Miller) Krause

A quaint little flower, which seems to have been torn in half, since the white petals radiate in only half of a circle, is called Naupaka-kai by the Hawaiians. It is a native plant, found wild on the beaches of these islands, and others in the South Seas. It has been adopted here for seashore planting, since it is resistant to wind and salt spray. There are other species of Scaevola growing in Hawaii, some of them preferring a mountain habitat, but all are characterized by the half blossom. The five petals have purple streaks. Leaves of the Beach Naupaka are thick and grey-green because of a velvety down. They become broader toward the tips than toward the base.

A plant with such an odd flower would be certain to have had legends created about it. They are several in Hawaii, usually on the theme of lovers parted, typified by the incomplete blossom.

The plant belongs to the Goodenia family. It may be seen growing along the seawall of the Halekulani hotel or along the shore lines of the Islands. (Plate VIII)

PURPLE, OR TRAILING LANTANA
Lantana sellowiana Link and Otto

A low, covering plant, dotted with small clusters of rosy lavender flowers is the purple Lantana. The flower heads are an inch or so across, each made up of flowerets which are little tubes with five lobes. The foliage is small, stiff and rough, with prominent veins, each leaf minutely scalloped. The plant is woody and firm, by which it can be distinguished from an annual, herbaceous Verbena which is sometimes grown as a ground cover and has flowers of somewhat similar form and color. The Lantana belongs to the Verbena family, accounting for the similarity. The trailing purple Lantana comes from South America. (Plate VIII)

The familiar red and yellow Lantana camara is often seen in Hawaii growing wild beside the road. It is an “escape” from gardens. At one time it threatened all island agriculture, for without natural checks in the new territory to which it had been introduced it formed dense thickets which could hardly be eradicated. It was finally controlled by introducing parasites from tropical America, where it is native.

PIKAKE
Jasminum sambac Solander

The Pikake flower is seldom seen growing, for the shrub is rather ungainly, with large stiff paired leaves, and the blossoms make little show. It is when these flowers are strung into leis, however, that they become universally recognized, through their magnificent fragrance. It is regarded by many people as the most enchanting flower scent in the world. The individual flowers are small, waxy, white, usually double. One lei strand is enough to scent a room, but several are usually worn in order to make an attractive showing.

It is this Jasmine that is grown commercially in China and added to tea leaves to make Jasmine tea.

Its peculiar Hawaiian name (pronounced peacocki), was probably derived from association with the white peacocks which used to wander through Ainahau, the beautiful estate at Waikiki where the Princess Kaiulani lived in the nineties. The lei of Jasmine flowers was the favorite of this young heiress to the Hawaiian throne and by a natural association of favorites, her lei and her birds were called by the same name. (Plate VIII)

CROWN OF THORNS
Euphorbia splendens Bojer

Quantities of very long, sharp thorns on a low shrub bearing small, red flowers is the Crown of Thorns. The little, rosy-scarlet flowers grow in small clusters on longish stems. What appear to be two red petals are really a pair of bracts. The leaves are few, bright green, and appear on the new growth.

The plant, which is usually less than three feet high, forms a dense mass of thorns with its bare, brownish stems. It is sometimes planted in areas from which it is desired to keep people, as in the parking strip before the Advertiser building. The plant is a native of Madagascar, and a member of the Euphorbia family. (Plate VIII)

It is a cousin of the Poinsettia, Euphorbia pulcherrima from Mexico, which grows very luxuriously in Hawaii.

SINGAPORE HOLLY
Malpighia coccigera Linnaeus

Miniature, holly-like leaves, crisp, shining and thorny, mark this charming little plant which is not a native of Singapore but of the West Indies. Nor is it a true holly, but a member of the Malpighia family. The plant is covered occasionally with dainty pink flowers, their five petals around the yellow stamens, very fringed and crepy and suggesting in form their cousins, the Orchid vine (Stigmaphyllon). They have a slight fragrance. The plant grows rather stiffly and is often seen in pots. (Plate VIII)

DOMBEYA
Dombeya wallichii Bentham and Hooker

The Dombeya is a shrub or small tree with large leaves among which hang showy round, drooping heads of many pink flowers. The flower clusters grow at the end of long, downy pedicels and are so heavy that they hang far over. Individual flowers have five pink petals, and the stamens are united into a short tube in the center. Even when these flowers are brown and dried the cluster still hangs on the plant.

The leaves are big and velvety, roundly heart shaped, with lobes. The plant is a native of Madagascar and a member of the Cocoa family. A white flowering shrub of similar appearance is the Dombeya spectabilis. A specimen grows in the University of Hawaii grounds. (Plate IX)

KALAMONA
Cassia glauca Lamarck

A very commonly seen shrub or small tree bearing numerous clusters of bright yellow flowers and, at the same time, bunches of brown pods, is the Kalamona. A native of tropical Asia, this plant has become naturalized in Hawaii and is often seen growing wild, especially in dry places. Its yellow flowers are similar in general form to those of its cousins, the Shower trees, and like them also, the foliage is compound. Each leaf is made up of many medium-sized leaflets. The flowers appear most of the year, but are best in spring and early summer. (Plate IX) The Hawaiian name has been transferred to this plant from a native Cassia of similar appearance, C. gaudichaudii.

HAOLE LEHUA
Calliandra grandiflora Bentham

Flowers which are pompons of pink or white stamens, blooming in winter and spring, announce the Haole Lehua. This name, meaning foreign Lehua, is applied also to a closely related species, Calliandra haematoma which has similar flowers of a bright pinkish red. Resemblance of these flowers to those of the native Ohia Lehua has resulted in this name being transferred. At the present time they are more commonly seen in leis than the true Lehua. Such leis are particularly beautiful suggesting a garland of marabou feathers. The shrub has small compound leaves and grows twelve feet tall. The flowers are followed by brown seedpods, showing the plant to be a member of the bean family. It is a native of tropical America. (Plate IX)

CUP AND SAUCER PLANT. CHINAMAN’S HAT
Holmskioldia sanguinea Retz

Tall sprays of the Holmskioldia are lined with quaintly shaped little flowers, of tawny orange or deep scarlet color. They are well described by the names of Cup and Saucer, or Chinaman’s hat. Each is made up of a saucer-shaped bract, which is the most conspicuous part, from the center of which rises a small tubular flower. They bloom the year round and may be found in many gardens.

The shrub is sprawling or half climbing, with small opposite leaves, usually with irregular margins. It is a native of Burma and a member of the Coffee family. (Plate IX)

KONA COFFEE. ARABIAN COFFEE
Coffea arabica Linnaeus

The shrub or small tree that produces the coffee bean of commerce is sometimes grown in Hawaii as an ornamental plant. It is conspicuous for its rich, dark, shining, leaves, strongly veined and for its bright red berries and the fragrance of its small, white flowers. The flowers are starlike, and grow rather inconspicuously in the leaf axils, a few in a cluster. They are followed by the green berries which turn bright red when ripe. These berries usually contain two seeds which are the coffee “beans” of commerce.

The Arabian coffee plant grows best at levels cooler than the average in Honolulu, so the plant is seen on Tantalus and in the high valleys. It is grown commercially in the Kona district, on the Island of Hawaii and the product has been given the name of Kona coffee. Most of the world’s coffee is made from this species, which was originally native to tropical East Africa, but was introduced very early into Arabia. (Plate IX)

Another coffee plant grown in Honolulu is Coffea liberica, also a native of tropical Africa. It grows under slightly warmer conditions than the other and so does better in Honolulu. It is larger than C. arabica, becoming a small tree. Coffee plants are related to the fragrant Gardenias, and give their name to the family.

CORAL BUSH
Jatropha multifida Linnaeus

Again the similarity of a flower to coral has given the name of Coral Bush to a plant. In the case of the Jatropha, the likeness is not far-fetched, for the Jatropha flower head is very curious and strangely like a small bunch of red coral. Stems and rounded buds are red and glossy. A few flowers open at a time, showing five small petals and yellow stamens. The fruit which follows is a green capsule holding several seeds.

The leaves of the plant are palmate, and deeply divided in seven to eleven slender parts, giving a lacy appearance to the shrub. It grows about ten feet high. (Plate IX)

Flowers of almost identical form grow on a related plant called Jatropha podagrica. This plant, however, is small and usually grown in pots. It is characterized by a greatly thickened stalk which seems to be a large bulb rising from the ground. Flowers and a few leaves grow from the top of this stem. The leaves of this plant are not divided, as in the shrub, but are either entire or lobed. Both are natives of Central America, and belong to the Euphorbia family.

LASIANDRA. PLEROMA. PRINCESS FLOWER
Tibouchina semidecandra Cogniaux

Flowers of rich royal purple, a regal and exciting color, make the Lasiandra conspicuous wherever it blooms. It is not commonly seen in Honolulu, because it prefers slightly higher altitudes, but on the road to the Volcano on Hawaii, or at Kokee on Kauai, it has escaped and makes conspicuous purple masses of bloom. The flowers have five velvety petals, and in the center a group of pinkish stamens, which are peculiarly angled.

The leaves are almost as attractive as the flowers being thickly piled with velvety green hairs which create a silver sheen. They are marked laterally by several conspicuous veins. Old leaves scattered over the plant turn bright scarlet and are as noticeable as flowers.

The plant grows as a spreading shrub. It is a native of Brazil and a member of the Melastoma family. (Plate IX)

NATAL PLUM
Carissa grandiflora De Candolle

The Natal plum, (a native of Natal, in South Africa) is characterized by its long sharp thorns, its fragrant white flowers and its bright red fruits which shine conspicuously among the leaves. The plant may attain almost the size of a small tree but is usually smaller and is often used as a hedge. Its thorns make it practically impenetrable.

The flowers have five, waxy, white petals which always twist slightly to the right. They are very fragrant. The red fruits are edible but sub-acid in flavor. The leaves are very glossy and thick, growing opposite each other on the stem. The plant is a member of the Periwinkle family. It may be seen growing along the Makiki side of the Round Top road. (Plate IX)

Identification key

(1) Dombeya

(2) Cup and Saucer

(3) Kalamona

(4) Haole Lehua

(5) Coral Bush

(6) Lasiandra

(7) Kona Coffee

(8) Natal Plum

Identification key

(1) Snow Bush

(2) Assorted Croton Leaves

(3) Purple Eranthemum

(4) Golden Eranthemum

(5) Panax

(6) Spiral Leaved Croton

(7) Beefsteak Plant

(8) Caricature Plant

Identification key

(1) Yellow Allamanda

(2) Pink Allamanda

(3) Baby Morning-glory

(4) Orange Trumpet Vine

(5) “Mauna-loa”

(6) Pink Bignonia

(7) Wooden Rose

Identification key

(1) Cat’s Claw Vine

(2) Galphimia Vine

(3) Phanera

(4) Giant Potato Vine

(5) Sandpaper Vine

(6) Orchid Vine

(7) Garlic Vine

(8) Mexican Creeper

(9) Cup of Gold

Chapter V
COLORED FOLIAGE SHRUBS

If Hawaii does not have an autumn season when all the leaves turn red, it has, nevertheless, certain plants which suggest autumn all the year round, with their gorgeously colored foliage. Brilliant tones of red, orange and gold appear perennially in the leaves of many shrubs, while others are more delicately colored in tints of pink, cream and yellow-green. Still others hold very dark shades of maroon, crimson and purple. On most of these plants the flowers are small and inconspicuous, as if the colored leaves took their place in interest.

SNOW BUSH
Phyllanthus nivosus Bull
Variety roseo-pictus

A mass of small, delicate leaves, pale pink and light green in color, on a loose, graceful shrub, is the Snow bush. It is well named, the effect of the frosty coloring being as if a light fall of snow had touched the leaves. While some plants carry only the light and dark green leaves, others show a rosy coloring in the new growth. This variety is appropriately known as roseo-pictus. The color is strongest in the young parts, the leaves tending to turn to a more even green as they become older. In some, the pink color turns to a dull red. The leaves are rounded in form, about an inch and a half or two inches in length, and grow alternately on the stem. The latter is dark red, with a tendency toward angularity.

Small greenish flowers sometimes hang from long stems in the axils of the leaves, the male and female flowers being separate.

The plant is a native of the South Seas and a member of the Euphorbia family. It is one of Hawaii’s most attractive and colorful shrubs being often used as a hedge plant. (Plate X)

CROTON
Codiaeum variegatum Blume

Leading in interest among the colored foliage shrubs in Hawaii is a large group of plants commonly called the Crotons. This name, however, properly belongs to a quite different plant but is used generally by nursery men for this Codiaeum.

Although these Crotons have an almost endless variety of leaf form and color, they all belong to a single species, the difference in appearance being only a matter of horticultural variation. The plants are natives of Malaysia and the Pacific islands, and are members of the Euphorbia family.

To illustrate the wide variations in the Croton leaves, specimens of seven different plants are shown in the upper right hand corner of Plate X and one more, with spiral leaves, is shown in the lower left hand corner. These eight are perhaps the ones most often seen in Honolulu, but they do not exhaust the local list, and botanical books name many more varieties.

Croton shrubs vary in size, but most of them grow ten or twelve feet tall. Their colors are brightest when growing in full sunlight. Croton leaves remain fresh for some time after they are cut, so that they lend themselves to unusual decorations. The proper name, Codiaeum, may have been derived from the Greek word for head, suggesting that the leaves were used to make crowning wreaths.

The Croton flowers are small and white, growing in slender racemes in the axils of the leaves. There are separate male and female flowers.

ERANTHEMUM
Pseuderanthemum atropurpureum (Bull) Radlkofer
(Erantbemum purpureum)

A shrub which might be casually mistaken for one of the Crotons, because of the rich coloring of its leaves, is called Eranthemum. The leaf colors are, however, purplish, rose and pink, hues that do not occur in the Crotons. These plants vary greatly among themselves, some having leaves that are mottled in green and white, others with colors that range through the pinkish purples to dark maroon. There is a tendency for the young leaves to have the brightest colors and to turn green as they grow older. The leaves are opposite, strongly veined and rather unevenly margined. The plant belongs to the Acanthus family, and is a native of the South Sea islands. (Plate X, 3)

A variety of the purple is the eldorado, a horticultural variation, as bright and sunny in its green and gold coloring as the former is dark and rich, deserving its name of eldorado, the golden. The pointed leaves are margined and blotched in bright yellow, usually with yellow veins. They grow in opposite pairs and have a tendency to appear in bunches near the ends of the stem. The new leaves are in two tones of yellowish green, the more striking coloration of clear yellow developing as they age. (Plate X, 4)

There is another Eranthemum, bearing purple and white flowers, illustrated in plate VI.

PANAX
Polyscias guilfoylei Bailey
(Nothopanax guilfoylei, Cogniaux and Merrill)

Visitors to Hawaii are always interested in knowing the name of the commonest hedge plant, a tall slender shrub with grey perpendicular stems and leaves that usually are edged in white or pale green. This is the Panax, a native of the Pacific Islands and a member of the Aralia family.

This shrub is probably one of the most successful hedge plants in the world, since it has few branches and these tend to grow almost straight upward and the foliage is carried right down to the ground. There are several varieties, differing slightly in the form and coloring of leaflets. Some are a flat green, others are edged in white or yellow, or the reverse. All tend to have irregular toothed margins. The leaves are compound, the leaflets opposite, the stems clasping the branch.

Besides the common hedge plant there are a number of Panax varieties in Hawaii, usually grown as specimen or greenhouse plants. One is very fine and dainty, with deeply cut, irregularly shaped leaves. Another is curly and still another is a giant, with leaves eight inches across.

The Panax very rarely flowers. (Plate X)

BEEFSTEAK PLANT
Acalypha wilkesiana J. Mueller (of Aargau)

A plant with bright red foliage, which might easily be taken for one of the Crotons is really an Acalypha, a relative of the striking Chenille plant illustrated in Plate VIII. The leaves of this plant are large and tend to a triangular form. They are basically a bronzy green color, with spreading blotches of pink, red and brown, but the total effect of the plant is one of bright red. These shrubs grow ten feet high and are sometimes used for hedges, being always conspicuous objects on the street. There are a number of other varieties besides the one with the bright foliage, one having dull rose patches on bronzy leaves.

Insects are attracted to these leaves so that often they are full of holes and sometimes they are reduced to lacy outlines.

Flowers are rather inconspicuous but of two kinds, the male and female. The former appear as small upright spikes of reddish tufts which are the pistils; staminate flowers are brownish and drooping and suggest little rat-tails.

The Acalyphas are members of the Euphorbia family and A. wilkesiana is a native of the Pacific Islands. (Plate X)

CARICATURE PLANT. MORADO
Graptophyllum pictum Griffiths

People with good imaginations can see pictures in the yellow or white markings on the green leaves of the Caricature plant. No two leaves are ever quite alike but the “picture” appears always in the center of the leaf rather than along the margins. The leaves are a pointed oval in shape, smooth and rather leathery. They grow in opposite pairs. This plant, too, often is taken casually for one of the Crotons. The shrub will become six or eight feet high.

The flowers are small, tubular and dark red. The original home of the Graptophyllum is not known, but it grows widely in the tropics and is popular in India. It belongs to the Acanthus family. (Plate X)

There is another variety with leaves of deep, purplish red and bronze, on which the markings are in a lighter shade.

OTHER COLORED FOLIAGE PLANTS

In Chapter VIII will be found described a number of other plants with colored foliage which are not, however, shrubs.

Chapter VI
FLOWERING VINES

Vines sprawling over rocks and banks, or climbing high over walls and trees to hang out floral banners, make up one of Hawaii’s most colorful and interesting floral chapters. While some vines are ever-blooming, most have seasons when they suddenly put on a display of color or of rare beauty, that become, often, the most conspicuous sight of the town. The vines are rather easy to identify on the whole, for there are only a few which resemble each other enough to be confusing.

YELLOW ALLAMANDA
Allamanda hendersonii Bulliard

Sprawling green vines, often used as a ground cover, with big yellow flowers every day in the year, are the Allamandas. They are one of the most widely used plants in Hawaii.

There are two yellow species commonly seen, the only essential difference being size. The one with large flowers, about five inches in diameter, is Allamanda hendersonii. Its leaves are smooth on both sides. The species with smaller blossoms, about three inches in diameter, is Allamanda cathartica. It may be identified, if not in bloom, by the fact that its leaves are somewhat hairy on the under side.

The bright yellow flowers grow in terminal clusters, two or three of the buds opening at one time. The buds are pointed, those of the large A. hendersonii being quite brownish in color and looking as if they had been varnished. This brown color blotches the back of the opened flowers. Blossoms are campanulate in form, the tube spreading out into five large, thick, velvety lobes. The throat of the tube in the large flower is also streaked with brown and there are whitish spots at the base of the petals. Flowers of these vines do not last when cut, unless the stem ends have the sticky juice coagulated by holding in very hot water.

The leaves usually appear in fours, forming a cross or whorl where they join the stem. They are a pointed oval in form, thick, smooth and rather light green.

These plants are natives of Guiana and members of the Periwinkle family. There is a fine planting at Vancouver drive and Hunnewell street. (Plate XI)

PINK ALLAMANDA
Allamanda blachetti A. De Candolle

The rose-colored member of the Allamanda group in Hawaii is not so often found as the yellow. The flowers are about the size of the large yellow and in color a deep rose, or almost maroon, with the throat a deeper shade.

The leaves of this species, while they display the whorled growth of the yellow, are smaller and very rough and hairy on both sides.

The vine comes from Brazil. (Plate XI)

BABY MORNING GLORY
Jacquemontia pentantha G. Don
(Convolvulus mauritanicus)

Flowers like miniature blue morning-glories, about an inch across, grow on this slender vine. It is charming because of its petite size, and for the beautiful color of the flowers. They have a lighter throat, and white stamens. The buds appear in clusters at the end of the flower stem and one or two flowers open each morning, closing in the afternoon. The leaves are slightly heart-shaped, ending in a sharp point. The stems are reddish. The Jacquemontia, which is a native of tropical America, was named after a French botanist, Victor Jacquemont. Formerly it was called Convolvulus mauritanicus. (Plate XI)

ORANGE TRUMPET VINE. FIRECRACKER VINE. HUAPALA
Bignonia venusta Ker

One of the most spectacular events in Hawaii’s colorful floral calendar, is the blooming of the Firecracker vine. In late winter, walls of green foliage turn suddenly into a sheet of flaming orange, the masses of flowers seeming like small tongues of fire blazing over the entire vine.

The blossoms grow in end racemes. Each individual flower is a long, slender tube spreading into four or five lobes which curl back against the tube. They often form the outline of a cross, with the fourth lobe split, curiously, into two parts to make the five-part flower. The style and four stamens extend beyond the tube. When the flower begins to fade, the tube slips loose from the calyx; but it is often caught in its fall by the enlarged tip of the style, so that the flower hangs on the vine, to add its color to the mass, for a while longer.

Leaves are glossy and bright green, usually growing as three rather pointed leaflets. Like so many other vines in Hawaii, it is a native of Brazil. The Hawaiian name, “Huapala” means Sweetheart. (Plate XI)