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.

My Website

reynoldsrenditions@gmail.com 

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.  

reynoldsrenditions@gmail.com

Oahu's Foster Botanical Gardens' Orchids And Cannonball Tree

These orchids stand a little over 5' 3" in height.  If anyone happens to know the name of this particular plant, please leave a comment on this post or email me.   The volunteer at Foster Botanical Gardens in Honolulu did not know the name of this orchid and it had no name plate near it.  Below is a close up of the flower.

It is not a spectacularly beautiful orchid, but it was my first time to see this type and I am curious as to its name and where it is native to....what country.  Below are some more orchids at Foster Botanical Gardens.

I intend to paint from the above two photographs one of these days.  I have about 5000 reference photos I have taken.... think I will ever paint from them all??  :-)

Below are some images of the cannonball tree and its flowers and fruit.   It is called "Cannonball Tree" because of its large, brown cannon-ball-like fruits.  When mature, the fruit falls to the ground (and hopefully not on someone's head) and splits open often causing the sound of a small explosion.    This tree is native to Northeastern South America and also the Southern Caribbean.   It has been growing for the past two or three thousand years in India, so it may be a native there as well.

Thank you for stopping by to visit !

reynoldsrenditions@gmail.com