“MAUNA LOA”. PUA KAUHI
Canavalia microcarpa De Candolle

Anyone who has remained for long in Hawaii has seen and wondered at the Maunaloa leis, those strangely formal, almost sculptured floral bands which have scale-like, overlapping petals in the center, and are bordered on either edge by rounded projections. The flowers from which these leis are made are a typical pea blossom. Strung together and turned right and left alternately, the “banner” or large top petal is then bent back and held down by being pressed onto the surface of a narrow strip of adhesive tape stretched along the length of the lei. The “keel” of the pea flower forms the border projections.

Originally these leis were made from the Maunaloa flowers, which are botanically Dioclea altissima. But these are rarely seen nowadays and most of the Maunaloa leis are made from a closely related flower, the Canavalia microcarpa. The blossoms of this vine range in color from white, through orchid pink to lavender and even maroon. They grow in elongated clusters at the tips of the shoots. The stems of the plant are dark red, the leaves are made up of three leaflets, triangular in form, with reddish venetions. This plant is an annual, growing from large, dark roundish seeds. It is a native of Brazil and grows wild in Hawaii. (Plate XI)

The true Maunaloa is very similar to it in general form.

PINK BIGNONIA
Pandorea jasminoides Schumann

There are several kinds of vines growing in Honolulu which have clusters of pink or orchid colored trumpet shaped flowers, often with a dark red throat. These are usually called vaguely Pink Bignonia, for they are either members of the Bignonia family or closely related. Their botanical relationships are not easily straightened out for the layman, since all are rather similar in appearance. On Plate XI is shown Pandorea jasminoides, a vine from Australia. Others are Bignonia jasminoides and Bignonia regina from tropical America. All are attractive with their pinkish bell-shaped flowers and fine green foliage. Pandorea jasminoides may be seen growing on a wall on the lower part of Diamond Head Road.

WOODEN ROSE
Ipomoea tuberosa Linnaeus

One of the strangest and most attractive of Hawaii’s plant novelties is the “Wooden Rose,” which looks indeed like some wonderful bit of carving, rubbed to an exquisite satiny brown finish. The “rose” however, is really the dried seed pod of a species of morning-glory, as anyone familiar with the ordinary morning-glory seed will at once recognize. The central ball holds the seeds while the enlarged, dried calyx which surrounds it, appears to be petals.

In Hawaii, the vine is a perennial, grown from seeds. Its strong shoots spread rampantly during the summer month, climbing high into trees or covering buildings and fences. The leaf is divided into seven pointed lobes. The flowers first appear in autumn. They are yellow, small, rather inconspicuous and tubular, like the small yellow morning-glory which they really are. After they fall, the calyx begins to develop until it has enlarged into what looks like an immense pointed, cream-colored bud. As this begins to dry, it opens, showing the enlarged seed case. In a few days, the “wood rose” is stiff and brown. About three months are required from the time the blossom appears until the seed pod is ready to cut. These pods may be used as a long-lived decoration; and, since the flowers grow at intervals along the shoot in the leaf axils, graceful lengths of stem with many roses can be used for flower arrangements.

The vine grows generally throughout the tropics but is sometimes called Ceylon Morning-glory. (Plate XI)

CAT’S CLAW VINE. HUG-ME-TIGHT
Bignonia unguis-cati Linnaeus

The three-pointed, claw-like tendrils by which this vine clings closely to trees, or walls, have given it the two names by which it is commonly known. But it will be readily recognized and remembered from the cloth of gold it flings several times a year over everything it covers. Individual flowers are trumpet shaped, with five spreading lobes, about two inches across. The color is a clear, canary yellow. (Plate XII)

The leaves are compound, the paired leaflets being pointed and narrow. The plant is a native of tropical America where it is related to some of the giant lianas that creep through the Brazilian jungle. Its most conspicuous relative in Honolulu is the Firecracker vine, Bignonia venusta, illustrated on Plate XI.

GALPHIMIA VINE
Tristellateia australis A. Richard

This yellow flowering vine is rather rare as yet in Honolulu, but is bound to grow in popularity as its attractive flowers and leaves become known. The color of the leaves is a light yellow-green. They are opposite, smooth, thick and waxen, with a tendency to fold along the mid-rib.

The flowers appear on pendant end-shoots, in long clusters. They have five, pale, yellow petals and in the center a group of short, red stamens. Probably this vine can be most readily identified by this touch of red in the middle of the yellow blossom. It belongs to the Malpighia family and hence is a cousin of the popular Galphimia shrub. It is a native of Australasia. (Plate XII)

GIANT POTATO VINE
Solanum wendlandii Hooker

Delicate, pale, periwinkle-blue flowers appear in large, loose, clusters in early summer and again in autumn on the Giant Potato vine. The petals of the flowers are not separate, but are connected, curving outward slightly, making the flower almost pentagonal in outline. The mid-rib of each petal is of slightly different texture and lighter color than the rest of the corolla. In the center of the flower is a group of thick stamens forming a low column.

The leaves of this vine are not all of one shape, but vary in form from a simple outline to one that is deeply lobed, with the end lobe sometimes larger than the others. The leaves are smooth in texture but have occasional prickles. (Plate XII)

Another “Potato vine” in Hawaii is Solanum seaforthianum. It has small flowers of a rich purple-blue, about an inch across, which appear in loose clusters in summer. They are of the same pentagonal form as the larger ones and have a bright yellow center created by the stamen.

The foliage of S. seaforthianum is small; but, like the large potato vine, varies in form.

The giant vine is a native of Costa Rica while the smaller one came from Brazil. Both belong to the Solanum, or nightshade family.

A close relative is the Giant Potato Tree which has flowers of very similar form and color. See Plate II.