Citizen Foresters' Pau Hana

Today many volunteers from all the Citizen Forester groups on the island met at Foster Botanical Garden for the end-of-the-year event; there were about 25 of us there. Jocelyn, director of The Honolulu Botanical Gardens, gave us a brief tour of the garden, showing us some of the Exceptional Trees on the grounds; about 20 of of the trees on the grounds are listed on the Register of exceptional trees (Sec. 41-13.7, ROH). Terry from the Division of Urban Forestry was also there; that is the office that will be using all the data we are collecting to assist with their tree planting & maintenance. This is my 1st time visiting Foster Botanical Garden; I think I will try to visit it each season.

 

Jocelyn began the tour with the Bo Tree aka Bodhi Tree (Ficus religiosa) as the background behind her; it is on the Exceptional Tree list. This tree was started in 1913 from a cutting from a Sri Lankan tree planted in 288 BC & identified as the oldest known living tree in the world. The Sri Lankan tree was started from a cutting of the tree that Buddha sat under while he was seeking enlightenment.

L to R: Jocelyn & Morgan.

The Exceptional Trees at the garden are marked with a brass name plate that includes the common & scientific name, family name, & native area of distribution. This Caribbean Royal Palm (Roystonea oleracea) was last measured at just under 200 feet tall a little over a decade ago.

It's so tall I could not get all of it in the photo!

 

There are several Queensland Kauri (Agathis robusta) trees at the botanical garden. The species was originally introduced in the 1850s for ship building. This particular tree was planted in the garden in 1920.

 

I think this is my favorite tree that I saw on this tour. This is the Double Coconut or Coco-de-Mer (Lodoicea maldivica); an endangered species. Jocelyn described their on-going "scientific experiment" with this tree. Male & female flowers are on separate trees which are 20 to 40 years old before they begin to produce flowers. When this tree started producing female flowers, there were no other mature trees in Hawaiʻi. In 2011 pollen from a male tree the Singapore Botanical Garden was imported & several flowers were pollinated & began to produce seeds. Hulõ! But wait ... seeds take 6 to 10 years to mature! Auē! Once mature the seeds were planted on the grounds of the garden. Hulō! But wait ... seeds take 2 years to germinate! Auē! There are now several seeds that have germinated & are now growing on the grounds. But wait ... it will be another 20 to 40 years for them to produce flowers. Fortunately, in the meanwhile, one of their other Double Coconuts began producing flowers & it turned out to be a male tree; they used if to pollinate flowers on this tree which once again has fruit growing. FYI It is not its lengthy reproductive cycle that has caused this tree to become endangered (though it certainly does not help); it is humans collecting the seeds for food, folk medicine, & bowls, as well as causing habitat destruction. Trees were growing all over the Seychelles before it was discovered & inhabited by Europeans in the 18th century.

Two greowing seeds can be seen near top center of tree.

A 4-year old plant.

This is a Cannonball Tree (Couroupita guianensis) which is native to the Guianas in South America; it is in the Brazil Nut family. The viney looking things on the trunk are tendrils that bear the flowers & subsequently the fruit which can reach a diameter of about 10 inches & weigh several pounds; the arborists remove the tendrils from all branches that are over the pathways. Although the flowers are fragrant, the fruit apparently smells bad; it contains lots of seeds in flesh that starts out white but oxidizes to a purplish-blue color. There were no fruit there for us to examine; Jocelyn suggested searching You Tube to watch it change color from white to purple. Below is an interesting video; apparently he goes around trying various fruit around the world.

The sweet-smelling flower of the CannonBall Tree.

The Baobab (Adansonia digitata) is Jocelyn's favorite tree at Foster. This African native was planted in 1940 but there are others known to be over 2000 years old.

 

This is not a tree but it is quite large; this is the Giant Leopard Orchid (Grammatophyllum speciosum). It is in the Guinness Book of World Records as the world's tallest orchid at 7.62 meters (25 feet). The structure at the left edge of this photo is the Conservatory which contains a whole lot of other orchids as well as several immature Corpse Flowers (Amorphophallus titanum). I was not able to check them out but would like to go back & see a Corpse Flower before, during, & after it blooms.

 

Near the classroom where we had our gathering was this sculpture which is a memorial to the original Japanese immigrants to Hawaiʻi. It was installed in 1960 on the 75th anniversary of the arrival of the 1st Japanese immigrants under contract to work in the sugar plantations.

After the tour Morgan had a short presentation summarizing how many trees had been inventoried in the 2020 through 2021 period; they were only active for a few months in 2020 before the shut-down, then started up again this September when restrictions were eased. She also highlighted the 5 groups & areas they worked on, including the Kaua'i & Guam groups.

Finally, Morgan gave out the Citizen Forester Level 1 certificates. You get one after completing the in-class & field portions of the tree identification training plus participate in 3 tree inventories. I was given a certificate even though I had only done 1 tree inventory; Morgan said the potential planting site inventories also count since that is part of Smart Trees Pacific's work with the Department of Urban Forestry. 

Besides our team leader Francisco, also attending from the Kapahulu Team were Cindy & Joe and Zoe & her son. I also saw Oleksandra who I had worked with briefly at the field training in October when we got rained on in Nuʻuanu Park; she was recalling how wet & cold she was during that training. Towards noon, when we were getting ready to leave, it started to drizzle, though not as bad as during the training in October.

One of the interesting things that Morgan talked about in her PowerPoint presentation was trainings in growing trees from seed. I went up to her later & told her once I move to Hawaiʻi Island I would like to help them with that since I already have a mister system set up. At this time they do not have a community group on Hawaiʻi Island; they are working on it. 

When I woke up this morning I was feeling a little cold; I wondered if I had caught a cold or something. It turns out it was just the weather; it was about 68 degrees F when I woke up. According to the news this evening one place (not on any of the summits) got down to 56F. Although December is cooler, it usually does not go below 72F.

I missed my weigh-in day yesterday; so I did it this morning. Over the past week I lost 0.2 pounds. I did not do anything special; in fact, I had less activity this week since the Neighborhood Security Watch was cancelled.

Today is a Feast Day so I made a blueberry proothie this morning. I used about 1/2 a cup of blueberries; I think I will make it a cup the next time.

Just as I got to Foster Botanical Garden I got a text from CJ; she was telling me about the Zoom presentation she attended last night about wetlands. Both CJ & I spent decades working with wetlands so we are kind of particular about what non-wetland people say about wetlands.

 

For lunch I had some snacks that Wai brought to the Citizen Foresters pau hana event. It was dim sum from 2 nearby restaurants; so most were high carb. But it is a Feast Day so I did not hesitate, though I did choose the plain tea for a liquid refreshment rather than any of the sodas or sparkling waters.

When I got home I found Keala once again occupying my chair. I let her stay there rather than chasing her out. The more time she spends sleeping there, the less likely she will be to pee on the chair.

For dinner I had the remainder of the Cauliflower Risotto Medley along with some Tempeh Bacon. I added a couple slices of vegan cheese. It was a flavorful dinner.

Today's Kauakukalahale column is called, Kani ka leo o Kapūkakī, ua haumia ʻo Nāpēhā. The synopsis is "There has been a recent contamination of the water supply in the Moanalua area caused by leaks in the fuel tank storage facility of Kapūkakī (Red Hill) due to neglect by the United States Navy. Numerous groups and individuals in the community have been advocating for preventative measures for years. What actions will be taken going forward?" 

The video below is a good summary of what has been happening at Kīlauea volcano since this current eruption began in September 2021. The KW cam photos show that it was foggy most of the day. I think it may have affected the thermal image photos from the F1 cam which shows no heat signature at 8:27 a.m.; I think the fog may have absorbed the heat. As the day warmed up, it looks like perhaps the atmosphere warmed up the fog & the camera was then able to pick up the heat signature.

At 8:27 a.m.

At 2:39 p.m.

At 4:41 p.m.

At 8:27 a.m.

At 2:39 p.m.

At 4:41 p.m.

Up on Mauna Kea it was cold again but it was hard to tell if there was any new snow overnight based on the Canada-France-Hawaiʻi Telescope web cams; the lenses were coverd by either freezing rain or snow. I will look for other cameras at the summit to see if I can find one where the lens does not get covered with ice or snow.

Looking northwesterly at 8:26 a.m.

At 2:31 p.m.

At 5:51 p.m.

Looking easterly at 8:27 a.m.

At 2:31 p.m.

Looking southerly at 8:27 a.m.

At 2:31 p.m.

Gemini Northern camera looking northerly at 8:27 a.m.

At 2:31 p.m.

The Aix weather app forecast rain all day for Honolulu; as mentioned before, it did not rain until after our tour at Foster Botanical Garden. For Kapaʻau, Aix forecast even more rain all day with thunderstorms; Big Island Now forecast cloudy with showers likely with a slight chance of thunderstorms & a 70% chance of rain. The Honomū weather station recorded 0.07 inches of precipitation by 8:30 a.m.; this increased to 0.19 inches by 2:54 pm. I did not check later in the evening. For Marysville, Aix forecast rain all day with more occurring during the daylight hours; the traffic cams showed precipitation throughout the day.

Kaimukī looking westerly at 8:28 a.m.

Honomū looking northerly at 8:29 a.m.

Marysville looking northerly at 8:32 a.m. HST.

Kaimukī looking northerly at 10:09 a.m.

Nā Koʻolau at 10:13 a.m.

Honomū looking northerly at 2:54 p.m.

Marysville looking southerly at 2:59 p.m. HST.

Honokaʻa got a lot of rain last night; nearly 3 inches in 24 hours! Auē! Honokaʻa is about 40 miles northwesterly of Honomū on the same coastline. Honokaʻa is basically at the southeasterly end of the series of hanging valleys that stretch from Polulu at the northwesterly end to Waipio; about a 12 mile hike by mule trail. In the same 24-hour period, Upolu Airport had 0.95 inches & Kahua Ranch had 2.31 inches. Upolu is drier at about a mile further west of me & Kahua is on the mountain road so it straddles the wet & dry sides of the island. Our house is slightly on the wetter side of the break so Kahua Ranch is probably a better example of how much rain was at the house.

Waves along north facing shores were large, approaching warning levels; they are expected to reach those heights over the weekend.

Laniakea (N) at 8:22 a.m.

Hilo Bayb (E) at 8:23 a.m.

Waikīkī (S) at 8:25 a.m.

Banyans (W) at 8:26 a.m.

Laniakea (N) at 4:37 p.m.

HIlo Bay (E$) at 4:37 p.m.

Waikīkī (S) at 4:39 p.m.

Banyans (S) at 4:40 p.m.

There were 124 new cases of COVID-19 reported today, bringing the total known cases up to 88,147. There were also 4 new deaths reported, increasing the death toll to 1032; currently there are 1215 cases considered active. There are 37 cases that are currently hospitalized with 7 in the ICU & 4 on ventilators. The 7-day new case average for the State is 89 with a positivity rate of 1.4%. The 7-day new case average for Oʻahu is 47 with a positivity rate of 1.1%. 

Hauʻoli lā Hānau e Jen!