Yesterday's post about pineapples made me miss Hawaii. At this point, it looks like I may not return for a few months which is frustrating (particularly during this snowy, rainy winter!). So to get me through the cold days, I thought I'd post a few pics from my travels there.
This grove of trees, when viewed from afar, don't seem particularly spectacular. But when I took a closer look at them (growing at the Waimea Valley Botanical Garden on the north shore of Oahu), I was enchanted by the network of buttressed roots.
The plant is Heritiera longipetiolata, and is endemic to Guam. The plant is also highly endangered. Though it is one dozens of websites due to its status as an endangered species, the information is somewhat scant on details.
The etymology of the genus name isn't very telling either. It's simply named for Charles Louis de Brutelle L'Heritier, a French botanist, who also named Eucalyptus.
The species name however, should be fairly obvious. Longipetiolata simply means long petioles. And as you can see from some of the pictures, this indeed is true. The plant has petioles that are as much as 2" long.
Fabulous. Thanks.
ReplyDelete