Roots and Vines - travelers and stranglers

Banyan tree / Aiea Heights area / April 2016

The profuse greenery in Hawai’i very often makes it seem like we are in a jungle in the middle of suburbia! Some of the many trees with fascinating root systems and the over abundant vines are transplants from countries traditionally known for jungles.

There are many members of the Ficus (or fig) genus which are now a recognizable, and beloved, part of Hawai’i’s landscape. The most predominant one is the Banyan tree. A magnificent example is the block-large Banyan tree in Lahaina, Maui.

Rubber tree / Moanalua area / May 2016

There are also many stories about Princess Ka`iulani and a Banyan tree. I thought the latter was at Iolani Palace. But as I have frequently found in my blogging I learn something new and fascinating every week! The original Ka`iulani Tree (Chinese Banyan) was located in Waikiki and could not be preserved. 

It was the first Banyan tree to be planted in Hawai’i. Here are two short articles and even a long scholarly paper all about Princess Ka`iulani and “her” banyan tree! Also just recently, the closest relative to the Ka`iulani Tree was set on fire! Here is an article about that tragedy.

Banyan tree / Moanalua area / May 2016

With the Banyan tree’s amazing roots, it can also strangle a tree! If you drive to the North Shore you can see many palm trees (near the horse ranch), that are and have been overcome by the Banyan tree, whose seeds can lodge in the little pockets that make up this particular palm trees bark.

Trees grow on, and over, other trees. The first one is not a Ficus. The second is and is perhaps a Strangler Fig!  

Octopus Tree on an Albezia  / Aiea Heights area / May 2016 

Fig Tree and roots on another tree  / Aiea Heights area / May 2016

With Hawai’i's frequent rains and the predominantly sun-filled days (long growing season) plants turn into their most healthy, and thus developed, form. But what is healthy for a plant can be bothersome and destructive to humans! Especially those of us who appreciate plants that are native to Hawai’i or plants that are cultivated and controlled. Many ornamental vines, and other plants, have outgrown, and sometimes smothered, native plants!

Overgrown vines can become a weight burden to their “host.” Here is where the plant and humans are at cross purposes. The plant is merely developing to its full potential! The vine grows high up the trunk allowing it to get the most sun possible. Have you ever seen a succulent vine? This may be 

Night-blooming Cereus.

Succulent vine / Moanalua area / May 2016 

Eucalyptus trees with Pothos / behind our house / May 2016

Many years ago one of these Eucalyptus tree’s branches fell onto our house!

It has always amazed me how the pleasant house plant, Golden Pothos grows into hearty vines with huge leaves! A mistake occurs when a landscaper uses the Pothos as a ground cover and then the vine is not controlled.

Golden Pothos / Aiea Shopping Center / April 2016

Palm with Pothos / Aiea Shopping Center / April 2016

Some vines do not have as dramatic an effect. Two unusual things can occur with overgrown vines. Firstly, you may think the plant is something different as when I saw these pretty bushes with purple flowers only to realize the weedy vine was overtaking Hibiscus bushes. 

Weed vine on Hibiscus / Pearl Harbor area / May  2016

In college, I learned that fully grown vines have made botanists misidentify the juvenile (low lying) and adult (upright) plant as two different plants. Look how these untrimmed pretty wall-covering vines transform, as an adult, to an upright plant.

Unknown vine (juvenile) / on wall Aiea Heights area / April 2016

Unknown vine (adult & juvenile) / Aiea Heights area / April 2016

Continue to “watch out for nature” and see how many roots and vines you can see in their full glory of growth!

It’s twins! Twice - cardinals that is!

If you are following my blogs since I started, you know I have an obsession with the Northern Cardinal. I did one of my first posts about the Northern Cardinal, among other favorite birds in the neighborhood. [October 1, 2015 (on the separate page - NATURE - AT HOME)]

I progressed from sighting just a pair separately, then together, and then a male singing! [October 29, 2015 (on the separate page - NATURE - AT HOME) and February 4, 2016 - Urban Flight amidst Urban Blight]

Northern Cardinal, male / street outside my house / September 2015

This week’s blog is dedicated to my mother because as I was writing this I realized my mother was probably the first to point out the Northern Cardinal to me when I was growing up on Kauai. I can even remember my childhood name for it - “cardimull.” Also, I probably get my fascination with birds from my mother, as she was always “watching out for nature,” but especially birds!

Northern Cardinal, male / on a neighbor’s fence / March 2016

Maybe I also love the Northern Cardinal because I know it is mainly from the East Coast or at least from locations with snow! My mother was from the East Coast and it probably reminded her of home. How did these birds get all the way to Hawai’i?

The Northern Cardinal is also a bird associated with Christmas, which I love!

Earlier this month, in the low trees behind my house, I started to hear desperate, loud continuous peeping accompanied by the sharp chirps of the adults. I kept looking outside to see if this was baby Northern Cardinals as I imagined. Finally after about a week of hearing the continuous peeps, I heard the peeps in the trees in my yard!

Northern Cardinal, baby / in my yard / May 9, 2016

Northern Cardinal, male / down my street / April 2016 

I believe this is a second generation of Northern Cardinals. I am confident that the breeding pair that I saw in October produced one male offspring, because after a number of months, I saw three Northern Cardinals flying across the neighbor’s yard. My theory was that the male offspring stayed and the “parents” moved to a different location.

For many months after sighting the three Cardinals, I heard a male cardinal gallantly singing from every high vantage point. I felt so sad because the trilling songs began to sound so desperate as the months progressed. Finally, I saw a female! 

Northern Cardinal, male (video, no sound) / in my yard / January 2016

                

Later on the day I saw the first baby, as I followed another round of peeping and loud chirps to my neighbor’s yard, I was able to see the male feeding a baby! The last photo seems to show the male looking out for something.

2 photos - Northern Cardinal, male and young / neighbor’s yard / May 9, 2016

The next day, I saw the female cardinal in the same spot and as I investigated further, I saw TWO baby Northern Cardinals in the trees behind her! 

Northern Cardinal, female / neighbor’s yard / May 10, 2016

The babies were always slow to fly away but their parents were difficult to “catch” in one place. Interestingly enough I saw the male doing more of the feeding unless he had the “afternoon shift” and I was more likely to take photos in the afternoon. 

Northern Cardinal, two babies / neighbor’s yard / May 10, 2016

Northern Cardinal, one baby left alone / neighbor’s yard / May 10, 2016

Northern Cardinal, one baby left alone / neighbor’s yard / May 10, 2016

Day after day, as I followed the sounds of the family, I was able to get different photos of the Northern Cardinal family. Some are difficult to see as the family did a fairly good job of hiding in the trees.

Northern Cardinal, male leaving two babies / neighbor’s yard / May 11, 2016

Northern Cardinal, female & one baby / neighbor’s yard / May 11, 2016

The adults seemed to fly ahead of the babies, guiding them around with their calls. The babies seemed to insistently peep to each other. Recently there was some tree trimming done behind our house so the Northern Cardinal family enjoyed the “flyway” hidden by larger bushes but it was cleared enough that I could get some good photos. My goal was always to get the whole family together but I was not successful.

Northern Cardinal, male & one baby / behind our house / May 11, 2016

As the days progressed the offsprings’ flights were longer and higher. Sometimes all I heard were the offspring peeping as if the parents had left to get them used to being alone. I am already saddened when I think of what comes next in this process but that is all part of the process and cycles of nature. 

Northern Cardinal, one juvenile / in our yard / May 14, 2016

Notice as the days pass how quickly the fluffiness of the offspring change!

Northern Cardinal, parents / in our yard / May 14, 2016

Male & two offspring / in our yard / May 14, 2016

Northern Cardinal, two juveniles / neighbor’s yard / May 17, 2016

In these latest photos, this juvenile looks like it is definitely a male.

Northern Cardinal, one juvenile / neighbor’s yard / May 18, 2016

Northern Cardinal, one juvenile / neighbor’s yard / May 18, 2016 

As a wonderful aside, while hunting for Northern Cardinal family, I was easily able to get shots of another set of twin Cardinals. These Red-Crested Cardinals are not as shy as Northern Cardinals!

Red-crested Cardinal, parent & two offspring / neighbor’s yard / May 17, 2016

Red-crested Cardinal, one hungry offspring / neighbor’s yard / May 17, 2016

Red-crested Cardinal, one hungry offspring / neighbor’s yard / May 17, 2016

About a month ago, I noticed a pair of Red-Crested Cardinals. Identification of cardinals  In an earlier blog, I hypothesized how these Cardinals, originally from Brazil, did not venture all the way up to cooler Aiea Heights and perhaps preferred a drier climate. [February 4, 2016 - Urban Flight amidst Urban Blight]

But now these Red-Crested Cardinals, new to our neighborhood, have adapted very well and the pair were taking care of their babies on a close tree! I heard babies peeping and thought the chirps and peeps sounded different.

Red-crested Cardinal, parent feeding offspring / neighbor’s yard / May 17, 2016

Red-crested Cardinal, parent feeding offspring / neighbor’s yard / May 17, 2016

These Red-Crested Cardinals do not show distinct sexual dimorphism (different looks for each sex). I wonder why that is? I cannot tell which is which, as both male and females are brightly colored and striking. 

Red-crested Cardinal, parent & two offspring / neighbor’s yard / May 17, 2016

Red-crested Cardinal, parent & two offspring / neighbor’s yard / May 17, 2016

The babies are the ones which are dull in color. Don’t you love how big the baby birds are when they still insist on being fed by their parents? What parent can deny the cries?

Red-crested Cardinal, male (?) parent & offspring / neighbor’s yard / May 17, 2016

The thrill of being able to capture, in photos, the growth of twin baby Cardinals, from both species, has certainly kept me happy throughout the month of May - the wonders of spring! It is wonderful that I can always see something new in nature. I hope you can do the same as you “watch out for nature!”

Unusual cactus /succulents found - in Hawai’i!

Hawai’i includes all the biomes found on Earth! I learned this fact when I was working on my Masters in Middle Level Education. I was required to take an upper level course in my teaching area of science. I took a great class about Hawai’i’s ecology at the University of Hawai’i, Manoa. That was more than fifteen years ago and now I see some sources which include a polar ice cap biome.!

For my non-fully technical scientific purposes, let us accept all the biomes being found in Hawai’i. In any case, there is definitely a desert biome. For that reason, cactus can survive here. [As an aside, I would be interested as to how cactus originally arrived here. Was it related to the cattle industry or was it just for ornamentals?] 

However it happened, I have collected some unusual photos of the succulents found in Hawai’i, focusing primarily on a very commonly seen cactus, Opuntia sp. The interesting thing is that these Opuntia sp. plants were found in many varied parts of Hawai’i, so this species of cactus must adapt well. As you view the many Opuntia sp. notice how the flowers different thus they are different species.

Opuntia sp. in bloom / Makapu’u Lighthouse hike / August 2015 

Opuntia sp. in bloom / Makapu’u Lighthouse hike / March 2016

Opuntia sp. plant / Makapu’u Lighthouse hike / August 2015

During my undergraduate work in college, I took an environmental horticulture class. The class included a “lab” where we walked around the campus and had to memorize and be able to identify many species of plants. I learned then that some plants have so many different species in a genus, with the different species of plants indistinguishable for the class’s purposes, the scientific “name” to memorize was just the genus name, e.g  Opuntia sp. Two other such genera which I remember with that distinction were Pinus sp. (pine trees) and Casuarina sp. (which is the Ironwood  found in Hawai’i). 

Opuntia sp. in bloom / North Shore bike path / May 2016

Opuntia sp. plant / North Shore bike path / May 2016

So the Opuntia cactus I identify here, will remain identified only at the genera level. Doing a little research gives some information about this genus and explains why we learned the scientific name that way! Opuntia is the “most widespread” genus for cactus.

I took photos of this North Shore plant because this cactus plant is re-growing out of a white, virtually dead, “branch” of the plant! 

Opuntia sp. in bloom / Aiea Heights neighborhood / April 2016 

This incredible specimen of Opuntia sp., as one views the flower, is obviously a different species. It is so amazing how the plant is overloaded, and weighed down, by so many buds, that nearly a month later still the multitude of buds still remain and the flowers appear only little by little. I guess as Opuntia sp. is able to survive in different environments within Hawai’i, and in very dry environments, it grows, and goes through its life cycle, at a very slow pace!

Opuntia sp. plant /Aiea Heights neighborhood / April 2016

This flower sprouted from a small succulent growing on the surface of a stone wall. It is amazing how that large bloom can grow and be supported so high above the original plant!

Unknown succulent bloom / Aiea Heights neighborhood / March 2016

Unknown succulent plant & bloom /Aiea Heights neighborhood / March 2016

I did not take any photos of the famous Hawai’i succulent, the Night Blooming Cereus (mentioned in the movie Blue Hawaii) found on Punahou’s stone walls. Also, I could not find photos I took of another succulent flower I have seen on the Diamond Head and Makapu’u Lighthouse hikes. The flower is a large flat, singular bloom and found directly on the ground. I believe this is the species and it is not the corpse plant which causes quite a stir in Hawai’i!

Look out for these cactus / succulent blooms in Hawai’i, or other unusual ones where ever you live, when you “watch out for nature!”

Fruit or vegetable? And a fruit’s true purpose!

Have you ever heard of people arguing about whether a tomato is a fruit or a vegetable? The problem arises because of a difference between the nutritional and the botanical distinction. I can only guess what identifies a vegetable for food or nutritional purposes. Is it because vegetables have this raw, bitter taste to them or is this taste only distinguished by the people who dislike vegetable, like me? I often wondered if the reason I don't like vegetables is because of that different taste. 

A fruit, by botanical definition, is a fleshy organ designed to protect and nourish the seed. The seed is the “future” of whichever plant produces the fruit. The fruit developed from the flower. 

Flowers from a coffee tree / Aiea Heights yard / April 2016

Even the coffee bean (which comes from a fruit called a “cherry”) develops from lovely flowers. [As of today, the coffee “fruit” has not yet appeared on these plants.] Coffee plant information

So many nutritional vegetables are actually botanical fruits. For example, pea and bean pods, full squashes, and of course, the tomato are all botanical fruits. I believe all nutritionally identified fruits are also botanical fruits.

Mankind’s botanical genetic interventions have led to many changes in the nutritionally named fruits and vegetables. This is very evident in the banana.

Banana fruit and flower / Aiea Heights yard / January 2016

The banana fruit is already an interesting fruit as they grow upside down. But in a college genetics class, I learned another interesting fact about bananas. True wild bananas have large seeds in them! I wonder where you could ever find one of those. The banana has been “domesticated” for so long that you can’t grow bananas from the tiny seed remnants you see today. 

This is probably true of many fruit plants and actually many ornamental plants too. The plants are not grown with seeds but through cuttings. Some plants can only be grown through cuttings! These plant have no fruit (with seeds) or the seeds are not true seeds thus are not able to grow more of the seed bearing plant if planted.

Some other unusual fruits are nuts. If you picture a coconut or have seen a walnut on a tree, the fleshy outer part, or husk, is the botanical fruit and the fleshy part we eat is the interior of the plant’s seed. 

Palm tree - 1 with fruit / Aiea Heights yard / May 2016

Palm tree - 2 with fruits / Aiea Heights yard / May 2016

Palm tree - 3 with fruit / Aiea Heights yard / May 2016 

These are three different types of palm trees producing their fruit. I don’t believe any are edible fruit. [As an aside, never eat a plant’s “fruit” unless you are sure it is edible.] 

I found it interesting that all of these types of palms were fruiting at the same time! The three different palm plants were all found in two yards next to each other. 

On my many runs, or walks, I noticed some other inedible fruits which developed on ornamental yard plants. 

Natal plum / Near Aloha Stadium / February 2016 

Mock orange hedge with fruit / Aiea Heights yard/ April 2016

[Remember:  Never eat a plant’s “fruit” unless you are sure it is edible. I did find an article which said that the natal plum is edible. But I wouldn’t take a chance as the plant sounds like the rhubarb plant with all other parts being poisonous!]

Mock orange fruit / Aiea Heights yard/ April 2016

Acacia flower and pods / Aiea Heights yard/ April 2016

And of course, as pea and bean pods are fruit, all those inedible pods found on Hawai’i plants and trees are botanical fruits too! [See March 10, 2016 - Winter flowering plants / trees in Hawai’i ]

So keep "watching out for nature," and see how many different kinds of unusual, or usual, fruit you can see!