Hawaii
November 5-28, 2011
November 6 - 'Iao Valley - 'Iao Valley Nature Trail
We had intended to visit the Hawaii Nature Center in the Iao Valley and were quite disappointed to find it closed. Luckily however we met a maintenance guy who told us that the trail could be self-guided, with maps available at the side of the center. The trail was very informative and we got a great first introduction to some of the native and introduced plants found in Hawaii's rainforests.
At the entrance of the Hawai'i Nature Center.
The Hawai'i Nature Center in the 'Iao Valley.
Sam loves all the beautiful flowers... she found this one lying on the ground under a tree full of these.
Maps and directions to the self guided trail.
A very kid friendly place... 'keiki' means kid.
Our first keiki sighting. ;-)
Thankfully the maintenance guy had told us we could come here otherwise we would have turned back by now!
Crossing the bridge.
Kukui (Aleurites moluccana). This is a polynesian introduced tree. It is the state tree of Hawai'i.
Nuts from the Kukui are used in lei and its kernels produce a burnable oil that is used in stone lamps. Although edible, the kernel is a laxative.
Christopher found a banana flower petal... it makes for a nice little cap.
False kamani (aka indian almond) (Terminalia catappa).
This tree was introduced from Malaysia. The large trees have red and green oval shaped leaves and fruits with an edible kernel.
Samantha found some false kamani nuts. She collected 3 different specimens of the false kamani fruit (indian almond):
green when it first falls off the tree, pink when the outer shell first comes off and brown when it dries out.
Kukui nuts and shells littering the ground.
Canopy of false kamani.
Giant false kamani trees surround the village site.
Coffee arabica. Introduced from ethiopia as a crop in the early 1800s. Coffee has white flowers and red fruit (green when unripe).
Coffee now grows wild in 'Iao Valley. It spreads quickly in this climate and there are thick coffee forests along many of the trails.
Some unripe (green) and ripening (reddish) coffee fruits and a coffee bean from inside an unripe coffee fruit.
This is a restoration site where service learning groups are removing invasive species, such as coffee, and replanting native species, like the 'Ohi'a Lehua.
Little mushrooms growing on a false kamani tree.
A common myna bird (acridotheres tristis).
It is a member of the family Sturnidae which includes starlings and mynas and is one of the most invasive bird species in the world.
Village site: Until the 1820s, this was an area where wetland kalo (taro) was grown. It was grown in flooded terraces using water briefly diverted from,
and then returned to the stream. This site was likely only a camping spot for workers on the diversion starting in the 1870s.
Rubby along the trail.
The fresh water from the streams are important as drinking water as well as for crops.
The metal grate atop the small damn across 'Iao Stream is a water diversion. On a typical day you are unlikely to see any water flowing beyond it.
The stream below the diversion is fed mostly by seepage, ground water and some water that is purposely released back into stream near the bridge.
'Iao stream is again diverted above Wailuku town. Except in flash flood conditions, 'Iao Stream has rarely reached the ocean in over 100 years.
Samantha enjoying the hike.
Christopher found a little 'pothole' of water to sail his 'boat' in.
Beautiful false kamani trees along the path.
This tree seems to want to avoid ever getting its feet wet!
Royal palm (roystonea regia). Introduced from Cuba, this palm is normally used as an ornamental with trunks that grow 50 to 70 feet and aerial roots around its base. It was sometimes customary, when hunters killed their prey, for a royal palm to be planted as a way of giving back to the forest.
Christopher and Rubby join Sam to check out the royal palm.
A close-up of the aerial roots around the base of the royal palm.
A local swimming hole with people jumping off the rocks on the other side.
The kids are enjoying all the different looking plants.
Mai'a (banana). Banana is a large herb (not tree!) introduced from Polynesia. After bearing fruit, the plant dies and the new plant grows from the side or center of the old plant. In ancient Hawaii, it was kapu (forbidden) for women to eat most varieties of bananas because it was sacred to a male god.
Notice the red flower, or bract, hanging below the bananas, which is also edible.
These red flowers can be quite funny looking!
A gorgeous view of the Ioa Valley rainforest.
Guava fruit lying on the ground... most of the stuff on the ground is filled with bugs and can't be eaten. Guava has hundreds of seeds and is very invasive. [7668]
Guava (Psidium guajava) was introduced from tropical america. It is recognizable by its smooth, camouflage bark.
Rubby tries one that looks pretty fresh. Unsure of how to eat these, he first removes the peel.
A tiny bridge along the trail.
Kalo (taro) was the staple crop and fields of kalo once covered the floor of 'Iao Valley. The wetland variety is cultivated on level earthen terraces known as lo'i. Water is diverted from the stream to flood the lo'i by means of 'auwai (ditches).
Lots of ki (cordyline terminalis). Polynesian introduced Ki is sacred in Hawaiian culture. The leaves have many uses such as wrapping food and offerings, lei, rain capes, and skirts. Ki planted around hale protects the home.
Scars on a kukui nut tree with historical significance. In 1987, a burial site was discovered in Kapalua when digging began for construction of the Ritz Carlton hotel. More than 2000 Hawaiian kupuna (ancestors) were unearthed. Bark was removed from the tall, sacred kikui trees in Iao Valley to obtain dye for kapa cloth. This cloth was used to wrap the bones before proper reburial. Until 1820, Iao Valley was off limits to common people because it was a burial site for royalty. Iao Valley is much revered, and the kikui trees are still believed to possess strong ritual potency - 'mana'.
Palapalai (microlepia strigosa) This indiginous fern is sacred to Laka, goddess of hula and of the forest. Hula dancers weave it into haku (head) lei. Once this forest floor would have been largely covered by native ferns but now you see mostly invasive basket grass (oplismenus hirtellus) blanketing the floor and only small patches of surviving ferns.
A bunch of giggly keikis.
A weird trunk of an unknown plant which reminded us of the fossilized tree trunks we found in Nova Scotia.
Mamaki (pipturus albidus) This endemic plant is a nettle plant that evolved without prickles.
It is the principal host plant for the native Kamehameha butterfly. The inner layer of bark yields fiber for kapa (barkcloth).
unknown yellow flowering plant
Sam and Christopher enjoyed climbing the false kamani trees.
Christopher in front of a palm tree.
Unknown plant.
Back across the bridge over Iao Stream. This bridge is part of an extensive irrigation system built by the Wailuku Sugar Co. in the late 1800's to irrigate sugar cane. Sugar cane requires 4000 lbs (500 gallons) of water per pound of sugar produced.
[ Driving to the 'Iao Valley | The 'Iao Needle | 'Iao Valley Nature Trail | 'Iao Valley Garden | 'Iao Valley to Haleakela ]
[ november 6 intro page | main hawaii page ]