Second Seed of Kanaloa

During the private NTBG tour with the Sierra Club yesterday, we stopped near the nursery where they propagate native Hawaiian plants. While the gardens contain plants from all over the world, the recent focus of their work has been to grow, study, and save the plants that are endemic to Hawaii, which means those found nowhere else on earth.

To that end, NTBG researchers have combed the islands looking for specimens. As the following plaque explains, this plant was found to be a new species when it was discovered on Kaho`olawe, the small island off of Maui that was used for bombing practice by the US military for 40 years.

On previous visits to the garden, we had been told they weren’t even sure if this plant was male or female or both, putting its survival as a species at risk. On this visit, we happily learned that it had produced a seed, which had been allowed to mature. In fact, our Sierra Club guide and NTBG employee had himself picked the seed earlier that very same day. Looking at the plant some more, I noticed an oddly shaped leaf that was lighter than the others. Looking at it sideways revealed its thickness and showed it was another seed:

This is only the second seed known for this species of plant, and the staff hadn’t noticed it before. As with the first, they will wait for it to mature, pick it, plant it, and hope it grows.

NTBG After Hours

Yesterday evening we went on a cool hike with the Sierra Club. One of the hike leaders works at the National Tropical Botanical Gardens (NTBG) on the south shore and can give private tours. So we got to walk around both the Allerton and the McBryde gardens after hours and see parts of the property you don’t usually see on the daytime tours. Both gardens are in Lawai valley between Poipu and Kalaheo, but even locals don’t always know the difference:

• The McBryde Garden is up in the valley and contains the various collections of plants. Plant lovers will be amazed at all the different varieties, some extremely rare and all well marked with tags. The paths are mostly service roads, except for the pretty trail along the stream. There are also a few theme paths: one displays the canoe plants that the Polynesians brought to Hawaii, the other presents various spice plants to your sight and smell.
• The Allerton Garden is located in the lower valley and goes all the way down to Lawai beach. It is more formal with walkways, fountains and pools, yet follows the natural contours of the valley. It also contains many types of plants, but here they are chosen for their aesthetic rather than their botanical merit. Beneath the palms by the beach is the Allerton house which can only be visited through special paying tours.

On this hike, we went further up the valley on a closed trail to a little waterfall. Palms from the gardens have spread naturally around the pool at the base of the falls, making a unique setting. I don’t know of any other natural palm-tree ringed pool on the island.

The Sierra Club offers this hike several times per year, and I highly recommend it. They are timed to coincide with the full moon, but you’ll probably still want a flashlight. If you’re visiting Kaua’i, be sure to check out their schedule of hikes to see if there is one while you’re on the island. Because it is a private tour, you do have to be a member, but it’s worth joining just to go.

Lahaina Noon +2

A reader suggested a followup to my Lahaina noon photos, and since I’m always game for a backyard science observation, here are similar pictures taken at the solar noon (12:35pm) today, two days after the Lahaina noon. You can see the shadows are no longer straight down, and from all my reading on the subject, I know they are pointing due south at that moment. Incidentally, this proves the earth is round…

Be sure to mouse-over the photos on my blog because I often put some explanations in the pop-up text.

I just noticed that the EXIF dates on all my Lahaina noon photos are false because I’ve been using an old camera whose internal clock batteries are worn out.