Saturday, August 15, 2009

Foster Botanical Gardens-Flowers

Some of the flowers and trees we saw at the botanical gardens. I have some info on some of the plants.

Birds of Paradise is native to South Africa. It is such a beautiful flower!!



The Pineapple. It is not native to the Hawaiian islands. It is actually native to South America and was brought to Hawaii by Captain James Cook in 1770. In 1903, James Drummond Dole began canning pineapple, making it easily accessible worldwide. Hawaii produces 10% of the world's pineapple crop.

This interesting tree was called the "Sausage Tree". It is named for its unusual, long and woody fruits. It is from tropical Africa. Pendulous scarlet flowers bloom at night and in it's native habitat are pollinated by bats. Many animals such as baboons and giraffes rely on the "sausages" for food.

A flower from the "Cannonball Tree".






The Cannonball Tree is from South America. It sprouts flowers and fruit right from the trunk. The cannonballs are filled with a foul smelling blue pulp that attracts peccaries, pigs and chickens.




1 comment:

Jennifer said...

Wow! What cool and unusual plants!! I would love to visit Hawaii someday.

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