A few weeks back, I had the pleasure of attending Don Hodel’s talk on the native Loulu palms (Pritchardia spp.) found here in Hawai’i. It was highly informative. Mostly, Dr. Hodel focused on the key distinctions between various species. The very next week, as if on cue, the L.I.C.H. Native Plant Initiative was having their Pritchardia hike. Armed with this new found knowledge, I joined them on a hike for Loulus above La’ie.
Sedges are a key component of the forest understory. Here, I just wanted to highlight the big difference between 2 native species of Gahnia is Hawai’i. The infloresence for the 2 is quite different. Pictured above is Gahnia beecheyi. It is still a common plant on many trails on O’ahu. Pictured below is it’s congener, Gahnia aspera.
This was the plant from the Kaunala trail. Notice how much more robust the infloresence is on G. aspera. I don’t believe they are sympatric: G. aspera is typically found in drier areas than G. beecheyi. Keep an eye out for both.
One of the best feelings when doing restoration work is seeing your efforts paying off. Here, one of the Olona (Touchardia latifolia) has finally come into full infructescence. The Manoa population seems to exhibit some morphological diversity. These mature fruits are a much paler color than usual orange. There are several plants with these lighter colored fruits. Whether there is any genetic correlation for this remains to be seen.
If there was a silver lining to the demise of the Border’s bookstores, it’s the new books that I was introduced to during their liquidation sales. One of those books was The Information: A History, A Theory, A Flood, by James Gleick. I was expecting it to be a thought provoking book (which it was). I just didn’t realize how much fun I would have reading it.
It’s that time of year again, when football is welcomed from it’s long respite. Sunday plans are altered, office bets are made and we take our rightful place on couches across America to watch 22 guys battle and battle. I got ready for this season by reading Ron Jaworski’s cool book Games that Changed the Game: The Evolution of the NFL in Seven Sundays.
… I most certainly took the one less traveled. All this blogging about hiking and it took till now to get to Robert Frost’s famous poem? After today’s long hike, it seemed particularly apropos.
There’s nothing like quirky endemic fauna. Here is a picture I took in Bohol of Philippine Tarsiers (Tarsius syrichta). If you love phylogeny (and who doesn’t?), tarsiers have been found to be more closely related to monkeys and great apes (clade Haplorhini) than lemurs and lorises (clade Strepsirrhini).
Biogeographically, it’s neat that they are only found in Indonesia and the Philippine archipelago. In the Philippines, there are only Macaques, Tarsiers and People present from the primate family. Lorises and Gibbons, found throughout Southeast Asia, are absent. Like the Philippine Flying Lemur, Tarsiers are only found on Greater Mindanao. Back in during the lower sea levels of the last ice age, Bohol, Samar, Leyte and Mindanao all form a much larger landmass, much like Maui Nui. Here, the little Tarsiers prospered.
Tarsiers have been exploited by people in the past. I’m fairly certain many of the Philippine Tarsier photos people find on the web like mine are from the Loboc & Loay captive populations. Those have since been closed. Let’s hope we can find a way to live better with our neat little cousins.
Mauna Loa from Mauna Kea summit road
I may enjoy hiking, but taking on Mauna Kea is a different beast altogether. Perhaps it’s a challenge for hikers more extreme than I. Besides there is a perfectly good road that takes you up to the native alpine denizens, so why not take it?
