Rosemary and Carol's Most Excellent Adventure.: October 8, 2011, Maui Saturday, The Tropical gardens of Maui Part 1

These are the pictures that I took at "The Tropical Gardens of Maui in Wallubu, Maui.

And here is their website http://www.tropicalgardensofmaui.com/index.aspx

The flowers and trees we saw were great, but we were here after the peak summer blooming season, so I just can imagine how much more beautiful it would have been in say August or September.

Na Meakanu

HAWAIIAN PLANTS

Due to Hawaii's isolated geographic location, the islands are among the most biologically diverse areas in the world, with numerous endemic species (found nowhere else). Unfortunately, this also means that Hawaii's fragile ecosystem has a much greater number of endangered and threatened species than any other state. Along with the endemic species, prominent in Hawaii's ecosystem are a couple of dozen Polynesian introduced plants that arrived along with migrations in voyaging canoes. These "canoe plants" along with many endemic species play essential roles in Hawaiian culture, for food, fiber, tools, building materials, medicine and art.

The above paragraph I borrowed from:
http://www.mauiculture.net/kuhikuhi/meakanu.html

10-8-2011 The entrance.

10-8-2011 Orchids are the largest goup of flowering plants in the world, and still one of the least known. There are between 20,000 and 30,000 known species and 750 genera. They come from just about all parts of the world both tropical and temperate.

10-8-2011 Orchid. Most of the orchids in this garden are epiphytes (air plants) and they can b found growing in the trees just as they do in nature.

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10-8-2011 My favorite.

10-8-2011 This is a close up photo, now you see why it is my favorite.

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10-8-2011 Palm Purple Crown Shaft from Australia.

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10-8-2011 Carpoxylon macrospermum. A very rare palm. This was thought to be extinct and was only rediscovered in the early 1980's on Vanuatu in New Hebrides.

10-8-2011 Lychee Tree. (Litchi chinensls) First brought to Hawaii in 1873 from Southern China. It Produces one of the most popular fruits in Hawaii but it can have an irritating habit of not producing fruit every year.

10-8-2011 Curlie Plant..(Okay, that's what I named it.)

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10-8-2011 Giant Orchid. (Crammatophyllum speciosum) The largest orchid in the world comes from Malaysia. The flower spikes can reach 10 feet high and have hundreds of yellow and mahogany 5" flowers in late summer.