Friday, September 13, 2013

Plumeria, Cassia, And Other Flowering Trees at Foster Botanical Gardens - Oahu, Hawaii



"Yellow" African Tulip Tree Blossoms


Yellow African Tulip Tree 

The above photo gives you an idea of how tall this Yellow African Tulip Tree can grow.   The close-up shot of the blossoms themselves are not a true yellow, but they are more yellow than the orange-red ones that I have photographed and painted in the past.   


Pink Cassia Tree Blossoms

These pink blossoms on the Cassia tree are my favorite; the yellow Cassia blooms are nice, but not as dramatic as the pink.  Below is a close-up of the yellow Cassia tree flowers.   


Yellow Cassia Tree Blossoms


Orange Flowered Cassia Tree

The shot directly above is of the Orange blossomed Cassia Tree.    They are rather nice, aren't they!
I am not getting too technical about each tree on purpose.   Hope you are enjoying these photographs.
Guess what kind of tree the blossoms below are found on ?


Nutmeg Tree Flowers

On previous visits to Foster Botanical Gardens I had seen the "fruit" of the Nutmeg Tree;  this visit last week found me in awe of the unusual flowers on this "spice" tree.  Below is a shot of the nutmeg tree in bloom.


Nutmeg Tree

Information about flowering trees would not be complete unless I included the Plumeria tree. 


Rainbow Plumeria Tree

Some rainbow plumeria flowers have more pronounced and vivid and distinct color variations on each bloom, so I am hoping I am correct in that this is a "rainbow" plumeria.   Regardless, it is beautiful !  Plumerias are found everywhere in the Hawaiian islands in white, pink, red, and yellow.    It is time I do another oil painting with plumeria blossoms !
Just for fun I am including the photo below of some cattle egrets that are always to be found at Foster Botanical Gardens.   I don't know what kind of tree they are sitting in; I must go back and find out.  But the tree in the background with pink blooms is probably a Cassia tree.


I could make many more posts here with the treasures found at Foster Gardens.   Check back again soon.


Saturday, September 7, 2013

Titan Arum or Corpse Flower (Right Place; Right Time) Videos





Titan Arum or Corpse Flower

Talk about being in the right place at the right time!  Yesterday I desperately wanted to get out of the studio and go on a photo shoot somewhere; I toyed with the idea of the Honolulu Zoo, but settled instead on visiting the nearby Foster Botanical Gardens in Honolulu, which is always a pleasant experience each time I go there.   The lady at the admissions booth happily informed me that the Titan Arum had finally bloomed.  I didn't have a clue what she meant, but smiled and went on my way to the conservatory where there is always a wide variety of orchids and tropical plants.  Immediately my attention (and everyone else's there) was fixed on the unusual and very large Titan Arum, which I later found out is the largest unbranched inflorescence in the world.  I was viewing a "once in a lifetime experience."  There are only about 150 recorded bloomings since records began.     Below is another photo for scale of this oddity.


There was a hole cut in the lower side so you could view it further, and this woman was taking a close up shot of the flower's insides.    Wish I had done that.   I may go back again today; I will call Foster Botanical Gardens for more information after they open their doors in about 3 hours from now.  I want to make sure the flower is still there.   This flower only blooms once every 3 years or so, and once it blooms it only lasts for about 48 hours.   The plant itself can live to be 40 years old with maybe only 4-6 blooms during that time.
Below are 2 videos (not mine) that give more information.   One is a time lapse of the bloom opening at Cleveland Metro Parks Zoo in 2007.

Commentary by David Attenborough



Time Lapse of Titan Arum Bloom

I may do an update soon on this blog about this plant if I visit the gardens in Honolulu again today.  By the way, this plant is also called "Corpse Flower" because of its smell to attract bugs for pollination; it is said to smell like rotting flesh.