We were given these old photos by a family acquaintance. I remember rummaging through some old photos albums when I saw one that said Koke`e. I can’t remember if the dates were closer to 1910 or the 1920’s. Some of the photos showed they went up with pack horses if that is telling. Most of the photos were of the camping party itself, but a couple immediately caught my eye.

When I saw this photo, I noticed that they had captured a really nice shot of a mature Haha lua (Cyanea leptostegia). This is the tallest of the extant lobeliads with some individuals up to 30-40 ft tall.

As neat as seeing an old photo of our tallest native lobeliad is, I’m also really happy to get a glimpse into what native forests looked like 100 years ago. Photos like this help give me and image of what we are trying to restore.