The Flowers of Hawaii

Hibiscus

The flowers of Hawaii are everywhere and are used in a variety of ways...You cannot be in Hawaii without noticing the flowers. Leis of flowers are worn on the head and around the neck by both men and women.   Flowers rule!

So without further ado, here are some luscious flowers I saw along the way....







and my absolute favorite, the fragrant Plumeria or 'melia' in Hawaiian
 (I used to wear one in my hair to college classes:   if you are looking wear it over the right ear, if you are married wear it over left ear)


There are more than 300 named varieties of Plumeria. The flowers are most fragrant at night in order to lure sphinx moths to pollinate them. The flowers have no nectar and simply dupe their pollinators.


Its common name "Frangipani" comes from an Italian noble family, a sixteenth-century marquess of which invented a plumeria-scented perfume.  They are associated with temples in both Hindu and Buddhist cultures, where they are known as "Champa". (theincense, nag champa, contains this along with other scented resins)
 

The native plants of Hawaii are of the most interest to me...Here are some interesting facts about the sacred plant of the hula goddessses:


A'ALI'I


If you want to know all about Hawaiian flowers please go to Noel's blog - A Plant Fanatic in Hawaii'...today's post is gorgeous.


And if you go to Hawaii you may want this great guide book to its flowers:

Comments

  1. Indoor FountainsAugust 24, 2010 at 11:07 AM

    Fantastic. Just another reason to go to Hawaii..

    ReplyDelete
  2. KimberlyAugust 24, 2010 at 4:52 PM

    Beautiful, Jan! I'm a huge fan of the Hawaiian tropics, and of Noel's blog! Love your photos!!

    ReplyDelete
  3. lam5991August 24, 2010 at 11:19 PM

    What beautiful photos! I love the textures and fragrance of the plants in Hawaii...Plumeria is my favorite! How fascinating about the Sphinx moth and the historical uses of Plumeria

    ReplyDelete
  4. Beverly SeatonAugust 25, 2010 at 3:31 AM

    Would that I had students in my university classea who wore flowers in their hair!

    I love those tropical flowers--grow puny hibiscus in planters.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Jan JohnsenAugust 25, 2010 at 9:53 AM

    can you imagine going outside to get in your car and plucking a plumeria off the tree next to the driveway, stick it in your hair and then driving to class?

    and the class was at 7:30 as I remember ( tropical agriculture classes stared early) Papaya was my cash crop....

    ReplyDelete
  6. Noel MorataAugust 26, 2010 at 3:51 AM

    aloha jan,

    aaaw...thanks so much for the plug, thats so sweet....i can't believe you came to hawaii and didn't ring me up :( Oh well, i'm sure you had a really packed agenda - i'm glad you got to see alot of tropical beauties above, i'm sure it must have been nice to pick up some plumeria buds and put them in your hair...i pick them all the time to put into my car so it smells nice.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Jan JohnsenAugust 26, 2010 at 7:59 AM

    Noel - next stop: big island! (I just have to start saving those pennies all over again)...

    ReplyDelete

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