Wiliwili (Erythrina sandwicensis) is a species of flowering tree in the pea family, Fabaceae, that is endemic to the Hawaiian Islands. It is the only species of Erythrina that naturally occurs there. It is typically found in dry forests on leeward island slopes up to an elevation of 600 meters (2,000 ft).
Archives: Biodiversity
White Locoweed
A Crazy Weed
This small pea is known as White Loco, Rocky Mountain Loco, Silverleaf Loco, Silky Loco, Silky Crazyweed, and White Point Loco. It can be found in the Rocky Mountains, from the plains to the sub-alpine regions. It flowers from May to August.
Description
This small plant grows up to 16 inches high, can be found in large colonies, and has curved, silky, grayish stems.
Flowers
Flowers bloom in numerous, white, up to one inch long, dense clusters, with purple-tipped keels and silky sepals that have black tips.
Leaves
Leaves are innately compound, up to 12 inches long, with silky, silvery leaflets (up to 21). Seed pods are erect, plump, and up to one inch long.
Water Hyacinth
World’s Worst Weed!
Water Hyacinth is one of the world’s worst weeds! It can easily take over a body of water in a few years. In fact the body of water that we filmed for this species is located in a dry region of Mexico near Mazatlan. The local rancher said that only two years prior, no vegetation existed in this lake. When we found it, it was completely covered leaving no open water access.
The problem this causes is that it suffocates animals that live in the water. Since these plants respire and use oxygen at night, the concentration of oxygen in the water decreases to a point that little life can exist. The water becomes anoxic.
Description
Water Hyacinth floats on the surface of the water, forming stolons. The plants have a prominent, black, stringy root. Sometimes they grow stranded in mud and will thus appear rooted. The leathery leaves (which are basal) are suborbicular, ovate, and broadly elliptic with parallel veins; the bases are heart-shaped, square, or rounded. The large flowering infloresence is a spike with light-blue to bluish purple flowers. These flowers are very showy. Sometimes they have yellow streaks. The fruit, when produced, has many seeds.
Interesting facts
Biocontrol agents (weevils and a moth) are having a significant impact on water hyacinth populations.
Upland Cotton
We’re doing this Ecofact from the panhandle of Texas where cotton is a major crop. What we’re looking at today is Gossypium hirsutum which is actually only one of several species of cotton grown in the world. Cotton is a descriptive term for several plants in the genus Gossypium in the Malvaceae family. While there are about 4 main cultivated species, Upland Cotton constitutes 90 percent of worldwide production.
As it turns out Upland Cotton is native to the Americas. The first discovered cultivar of this species was in Mexico about 5,000 years ago.
And if you’re wondering how important cotton is, here are some amazing numbers. In 2007 China lead the world in production with 25.3 million bales. India, the home of Ankit, grew 20.5 million bales. And the US grew just over 19 million bales.
Ti Plant
An Ancient Hawaiian Spiritual Plant
Ti plants, unlike like the tea you drink, were plants brought to the Hawaiian islands by early Polynesians. In fact, the plant was spread all throughout Polynesia and cultivated for its spiritual uses and for its starchy rhizomes. But imagine this Dr. Suess-like plant having leaves that only the Hawaiian chiefs were allowed to wear around their necks.
In Hawaii, kī rhizomes are fermented and distilled to make okolehao, a liquor.
Strawberry Guava
Distribution
Native to Brazil, naturalized in Florida, Hawaii, tropical Polynesia, Norfolk Island, and Mauritius (Cronk and Fuller 1995). Naturalized across peninsular Florida, with herbarium specimens documented from Seminole, Orange, Osceola, Pinellas, Hillsborough, Indian River, St. Lucie, Martin, Highlands, Glades, Hardee, and DeSoto counties (Wunderlin et al. 1995).
Life History
Grows rapidly, tolerates shade, and produces root suckers (Cronk and Fuller 1995). Root-suckering ability important to its dominance in natural habitats (Huenneke and Vitousek 1990). Has good salt tolerance (Maxwell and Maxwell 1961). Flowers and fruits all year (Wunderlin 1982). Has high seed production, early seed maturity, and seed dispersal by both birds and mammals (Cronk and Fuller 1995).
Silky Oak
A tree with an odd-looking flower
If you’re not from Australia, you may never have seen a flower quite like that of the silky oak. Like many of the Australian plants in the Proteaceae family, its flowers don’t have a typical flower shape. While they usually all have the same components (sepals, petals, stamen, stigma), they are twisted around just like some elaborate orchids are twisted to serve their purpose. In the silky oak, the top of the stamen is contained within one of the petals. The result is an odd loop that forms from this twisted arrangement.
Distribution
Native originally to Australia, the silky oak was planted around the world in reforestation projects. In Hawaii for example it was introduced in 1859. From about 1919 to 1959 nearly 2.2 million trees were planted around the islands. But, unlike other Hawaiian invaders, the tree doesn’t seem to invade or spread rapidly. It has been a pest in some places of the Big Island, but is a relatively low threat.
It grows on dry to somewhat mesic slopes where it does quite well.
General Description
Silky oak, Grevillea robusta, is a medium to fairly large tree with light gray, rouge, bark with mainly closely spaced furrows. The trunk tends to be straight and tall. Flowers form on the plant in season (in Hawaii, April and May) and extend through the summer. Flowers are striking, abundant, and yellow to orange. Leaves are distinctive and feathery. From a distance they can have a silvery look to them. This is a result of a silvery underside which contrasts the dark green surface. These leaves, which can be six to twelve inches long, alternate along the stem. The leaves are compound with paired leaflets arranged along the central stem. Unlike most compound leaves, these leaflets are deeply lobed with sharp points on the ends. This makes is look almost fernlike.
Red Mangrove
A Salt-tolerant Plant
The red mangrove is one of the most common plants in mangrove forests around the world. It grows in nearly monotypic stands along the ocean-mudflat interface because relatively few plants can stand the salt water. Red mangroves have unique adaptations to exclude salt from their older leaves; they turn yellow and fall off!
Where is the Red Mangrove found?
The red mangrove is found along tropical and subtropical shorelines around the globe. It has recently colonized Hawaii (where it was not native) and is listed there as an invasive species. The following chart shows where mangrove forests are found.
Unique Reproduction
In the above drawing you can see the seeds of the red mangrove already germinated and growing a root. These can grow from six to twelve inches before they fall from the tree. This is a type of viviparous growth strategy and an adaptation for the wet habitat that the mangrove lives in.
After these small plants fall from the mangrove tree they can float out at sea for a relatively long time. For a majority of the time they may float horizontally. At some point they shift mass to stand vertically in the water. The roots extends to the substrate and they begin growing again.
Shoreline Protector
Another great thing about the red mangrove is its ability to reclaim land. It can actually help land extend out into the ocean by disipating wave energy which allows sediment to accumulate in the mangrove swamps. In the photo below you can see the many prop roots of the red mangrove extending into the shallow substrate in Roatan, Honduras.
Mangroves as a Nursery
Red mangroves are great nursery grounds for young fish. In fact, they are so important that many fisheries have crashed when the mangroves were cut down!
Other great Red Mangrove links
The “Rhizophora” in the Open Directory Project – Great links to the best mangrove sources.
Red Mangrove Description from Purdue University
Other Sources
Carlton, J. 1974. An Ecological Survey of Selected Mangrove Communities in Florida. Master of Arts Thesis. Department of Biology in the University of South Florida.
Hogarth, Peter J. (1999). The Biology of Mangroves. Oxford University Press, Oxford. ISBN 0-19-850222-2.
Ohia lehua
A Honeycreeper’s Mainstay—the red flowered Ohia
After the onslaught of invasive species introduced to Hawaii, there are relatively few native species that have been able to compete. The showy, red-flowered ohia is one of the hardiest competitors the Hawaiian Islands have produced. They are the most common tree species in Hawaiian forests and form a mainstay for hawaiian honeycreepers. The bright red blossoms on these trees are actually the long filaments of the flowers.
Distribution
There are 5 species of Ohia endemic to the Hawaiian islands; Metrosideros polymorpha is the most common of all the species. It is found on all the main islands in a wide range of habitats. It is an early colonizer of lava flows and can be found from the coast up to about 8,500 feet. The name polymorpha (“many forms”) alludes to the diverse nature of this plant. It can grow as a stunted bush in bogs, on windswept hillsides, on lava flows, and as a giant tree in lush rainforest habitats. But its not only the size of the tree that changes, the leaves of this plant have different growth morphologies depending on where it lives.
General Description of Ohia
Ohia grows as a small bush to a large tree in Hawaiian forests. The bark of the tree is light gray, rough, fissured, and scaly. In moister areas the bark may be difficult to see because it is often covered in moss, lichens, ferns or other Hawaiian epiphytes. The leaves are alternate and arranged in a ninety degrees to one another. While size and texture vary, they are generally from a half inch to two inches long. It is common to see small bumps on the leaves of Ohia. These galls are caused by small insects called psyllids that lay their eggs in the leaf tissue. As they grow, a compound is secreted which simulates plant growth homorne, stimulating the plant to grow abnormally around the insect.
The flower blossoms of Ohia are formed by clusters of tiny flowers. The petals are relatively small and insignificant. The part that most people see when looking at the blossum from a distance are lots of stamen. The long filaments of this male reproductive part are red and look somewhat like hair. Lehua means “hair” and thus Ohia lehua refers to these hair-like blossoms.
Ohia and Legends
These bright blossuos were particularly attractive to Hawaiians. They believed that picking an ohia lehua blossum brought rain with it so it was best not to pick one on the way into a forest. They picked the blossoms on the way out!
Mountain Naupaka
A legend-filled half flower
In the misty, rainy mountains that rise above Waikiki, you’ll find the half-flower of the mountain naupaka. This unusual mountain flower is found nowhere else in the world but the islands of Oahu and Kauai. Yet, unlike other endemics, this species is fairly common in the mesic to wet forests of the two islands. Hawaiians noticed that this wasn’t the only species though. Another common species, beach naupaka, grew only on the dry shorelines. This observation caused Hawaiians to come up with several stories to explain why the two never grew in the same climate region. While there are several different legends, they all have to do with two lovers being turned into the half flowers of the naupaka. One, restricted to the mountains and the other restricted to the coast, never to unite. If you bring the flower of the naupaka from the coast to the naupaka in the mountains, you can unite the lovers!
Distribution
The name Mountain Naupaka is used to refer to Scaevola gaudichaudiana, one of several naupakas found in the mountains of the islands. There are nine native species in the Hawaiian islands. Eight of these species are found nowhere else in the world. One, beach naupaka, has floating seeds that easily disperse in Pacific waters and is consequently an indigenous species.
General Description
Scaevola gaudichaudiana grows as a bush to small tree. It produces white half-flowers that look similar to that of the beach naupaka. The leaves are spindle-shaped, light green, serrated and two to four inches long. The berries are purple-black.
Eating Naupaka Berries
It has been reported that the small white berries of the beach naupaka were famine food for Hawaiians. While the might not have tasted very good, they were edible. The berries on mountain naupaka, however, are not edible under any circumstances. While not necessarily poisonous, the are extremely bitter.
Hawaiian Legends of the Naupaka
As a guide on the islands, I used to tell guests of the Hawaiian stories related to the mountain naupaka and beach naupaka. There seem to be several different versions of the story, so I’ll used the accounts published by J.B. Hall.
In the first story, two lovers quarreled and the woman, in a fury, tore what had been an intact, circular naupaka flower in two. She told her lover that she would never forgive him until he could find a whole flower again. But the gods had changed all the naupaka flowers of the beach and mountain into half-flowers. He could never find a whole one and eventually died of a broken heart (apparently Hawaiians didn’t believe in happy endings).
A second story claims that a lovely stranger became infatuated with a village youth. The stranger played around with her for a bit and then went back to his old girlfriend. Somehow this infuriated the volcano goddess, Pele. She chased the youth into the mountains with a wave of lava. The gods took pitty on him however, and turned him into a mountain naupaka. Pele was upset by this, however, and chased the other lover down the mountain with lava. The gods then turned her into a beach naupaka. Ever since, the two lovers have been parted, yearning to be with the other but never able to unite. (If you’re confused in any way by this story, you’re not alone. I never fully understood who the gods were supposed to be that turned the two into flowers and why that made Pele even more frustrated.)
