The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1904-02-24
WHAT A BOTANIST
MAY SEE IN HONOLULU
A. B. LYONS IN THRUMs ANNUAL

%-s-$-s-%-s-%-s.>-s-@-s-%s
lobed make very dense shade, and sug
. gest the idea OF extraordinary vlgor o
growth which is carried out consistent
ly by the great green globes of its fruit
In the Older trees the beauty of sym
metry is lost, but there remains an al
of sturdy self assertion which seems Il
excuse their grOtesque ugilness.
Another tree doubtless imported By
the aborigines is the ohia, or mountain
apple, Eugenia Malaccensis, occasionally
seen in Honolulu, but not happy where
there is so little rain A noble tree II
is under favorable conditions, with It's
large, oval, deep green, shining leaves
and the scarlet tassels of its numerous
blossoms, but it is when the fruit is
ripe that the tree is in its glory, great
clusters OF the deep red luscious look
ing ''apples" clinging about its branches
and larger limbs everywhere. Juicy and
refreshing the fruit is, although rather
insipid.
Conspicuous by the pa1eness Of its sill
! very foliage among the shade trees near
/ the city, as we'll as in the valleys of the
| interior, is the Kukui, or candlenut tree,
Aleurites Moluccana The fruit looks
something like the black walnut, but is
/ larger and frequently contains two nuts.
! These are as large as an English walnut,
| with a shell nearly as hard as that of a
| hickory nut, from which are carved ef-
! fective ornaments, black as jet, and
! capable of receiving high polish. The
| oily kernels were formerly strung on
| bamboo sp1ints by the natives for torch
es, whence, to this day, lamp is an
! ipu kukui.
Another native plant, abundant in the
mountains, you will often see planted
for hedges-a Dracaena (more properly
Cordyline but with green, not red or
ii. and find many uses for it. The roots
which are three to six inches thick and
several feet long are roasted or steamed
in underground ovens, sugar being pro-
duced abundanuy in the process, In
this condition it is eaten, or rather chew
ed and the juice sucked from it, but the
principal use made of it by the natives IS
to produce ololehao kind OF moon
sinners whiskey The leaves take the
place of wrapping paper in the fish
market. Haoles (white people, make
burgle OF putting up packages with 1t,
but the native Hawaiian is very deX-
trous III its use and the initiative China
man succeeds equally well.
Banana trees you see everywhere, but
not generally planted for ornament. The
trade wind blows too constantly to al
low them to keep a whole leaf more than
a day or two, unless under shelter of
house. The stranger is surprised at their
variety, as different one from another as
the Varieties of pear or apple. Some
grow on small trees, not more than
six feet high, others run up fifteen, TWEEN
ty and even twenty-five feet. The rapid
ity of growth IS something amazing.
Cut off the trunk of half grown plant !
YOU find that it is made up simply OF !
the sheaths of leaf stalks, the center oc-
cupied by the coming leaf, which immek |
diately begins to push forward so that
in few minutes it projects noticeably, |
and in half a day it will have grown
out several inches.
The fruit OF the different varieties
varies greatly in size, shape color and |
favor: the fruit clusters in some vari-
cites are very large, in others always
small Of the thousands of blossoms
produced from each bud" only a few,
fifty or less to two hundred of the first,
are followed by fruit; seed is never
developed.
One variety has the fruit cluster erect
instead of pendant. Some are good to sat
uncoOked, and spoiled by cooking, 9th
ers are unpalatable unless cooked, when
they are delicious.
YOU would not distinguish plant OF
Manila hemp from a banana tree" bat
the 1ruit of the former is insipid, and
filled with perfectly developed seeds.
Your guide will point out to you as
he travellers palm plant which your
)otar eye will recognize as a banana
rather than a palm. Unlike the banana
t is a branching perennial plant, and I'M
ike banana, its great banners OF leaves
IRE so tough i'll texture that they are :
,ut little split to pieces by the wind. The
lower clusters are lateral, not terminal,
md the bracts are persistent, so that
he fruit IS concealed from view. You Z
ind. however, that it resembles banana ,
n shape, although only three or four !
inches long. But the part of the fruit |
which in the banana IS the edible pulp {
S tough and horny and your curiosity {
O know what is inside subsidies after P,
on have tried your jacklulife on it Y
While. You will make a mistake, though, ! $
f you throw the refractory thing away. | t
axe it home and let it lie a day in the {
I'm and you will find that your curiosi-i I
V was justified. The tough fruit yields Y
D the persuasion OF the sun, and splits i
1to three valves, which separate and
ecurve, revealing one of Natures mar +
els. Each valve is found to hold two t
mes Of seeds, each enveloped in fam t
sstic jacket of deep, clear blue. What c
or? That is more than | can tell, but a
le bony bananas make very pretty orna- Il
lents in a botanst's collection. il
One OF the most stately trees seen t
! Honolulu is the mango. Compact in 5
5 growth. its foliage is dense. con- $
sting Of 1inearlanceolate, rather rigid s.
.aves. six to nine inches long, dark s.
reen when mature, but while young IN
lie spring. of a rich purple-red color; a