We have been working hard at restoring the native forest at our site along the Manoa Cliff trail. While there has been great strides since the project started in 2005, the trail itself outside our area still has some great native plants.
The flora on Pu’u Ohi’a has been described in the past; by Dr. Raymond Fosberg and again by Beth Saxon. I am nowhere near their level, but the plants still are. Sure, the trail is highly degraded, but here is another chance for the plants to shine.
Major components of varied Hawaiian plant communities are the native members of the citrus family (Rutaceae). No tasty oranges here though. But the good thing, at least on O’ahu, is that they are an almost guaranteed sighting on most summit hikes. There are 3 main branches native to Hawai’i: Zanthoxylum, Melicope, and Platydesma.
*From Manual of the Flowering Plants of Hawai’i
I like hiking Ko’olau range because I like the juxtaposition of rare native biota and dense urban environments. That whole sharing the planet thing again. However, I just can’t deny how amazing the native flora is in the Wai’anae range is. So here we go, another trek into the hills above Makua, and more wonderful surprises…
While it’s an obvious play off John Hall’s excellent book, my ambitions are much humbler than his. Highlighting native plants on one trail is enough for me. On a whim, I decided to do a short 3-4 hr hike up to the Ko’olau summit via the Hawai’i Loa Ridge trail to check out the native plant life. It’s short relative to my typical all-day hikes anyway.
Here’s another species of Hulumoa (Korthalsella complanata). K. complanata is the most common of the Hawaiian mistletoes. It is also found on a wider variety of host plants than the other species. Here it is on Ahakea lau nui (Bobea elatior). This species is quite variable vegetatively, but on Bobea hosts, it looks strikingly similar to K. latissima on Mt. Ka’ala. I’ll be honest, I don’t think I can spot the differences; I know K. latissima branches more sparingly than K. complanata. Perhaps more time in the field will help…
*From Manual of the Flowering Plants of Hawai’i
Approaching Cyaneas
We hiked several gulches in the Mokule’ia forest preserve to check out the native plants in the area. This part of the northern Wai’anaes has some nice native forest that are still fairly species rich. Let’s see how things have changed since the days Hathaway and Degener hiked these areas.
A majority of these botany hikes I go on have been with Joel and Kenji. It has been a real privilege because they are both walking encyclopedias of the biota here in Hawai’i. So much of what I have learned is because of these guys. This past weekend we went to check out an interesting patch of Ohia forest in the hills behind Pupukea.
First off, I would like to congratulate my good friend Art for getting his Master’s degree. I was at his graduation party on Sunday at The Oahu Club in Hawai’i Kai to celebrate. I actually had no plans this weekend for hiking and surveying. There wasn’t anything out of the ordinary at first: some of his guests were swimming, some were playing tennis. My friends and I were poolside taking in the Jets/Steelers game on the nearest flatscreen TV and drinking beer.
We made our way down to the lawn when the food was ready when, much to my surprise, a family of Hawaiian Moorhens (Gallinua chloropus sandvicensis) appeared!
Studia Mirabilium 