Koko Crater Palms

[Morabeza]

Aloha Palm lovers,

Here are some pictures I recently took of palms in the Koko Crater Botanical Garden on east O`ahu, Hawai`i.  The conditions are quite hot and dry year-round.  These plant receive little if any irrigation or any kind of attention from gardeners and visitors alike!

Pseudophoenix sargentii ssp. sargentii

Sabal uresana

[Morabeza]

Latania loddigesii

Hyphaene thebaica

[Morabeza]

Copernicia hospita (not so blue  ??? )

[Morabeza]

Copernicia macroglossa

Copernicia alba

[Morabeza]

Brahea aculeata

[Morabeza]

Copernicia alba, Phoenix reclinata and Jubaeopsis caffra

Allagoptera arenaria in the foreground

[bgl]

Jacob,

Thanks for the photos! Great to see what it looks like there. Have never been there. On the few occasions when I do get over to O'ahu, I'm always too busy going to Fosters', Lyon and Ho'omaluhia....

Bo-Göran

[Morabeza]

You are very welcome Bo-Göran

Next time I am there I will endeavour to photograph the handsome 25' Brahea armata and still trunkless Livistonia canariensis that grow in that vicinity.

While Koko Crater BG does have some scattered gems (mostly non-palms) it is on the whole, sadly a very underutilised garden.  It's maintained on a very bare-bones type of upkeep.  They could plant some really amazing palms that perform better in dry areas of the archipelago in comparison with the wetter places, but I don't see it happening.

[JakeK]

Are those Trachycarpus growing to the left of the Copernicia macroglossa in post 4? If so, I would have never thought of seeing a trachy in Hawaii.

[Zac in NC]

Jake- looks like a Trachy to me.

Jacob- Those Sabal uresana look like they could use a good torching. Hahahaha.

Zac

[bgl]

I've actually seen a few Trachycarpus in various locations here on the Hilo side and they grow just fine here. Maybe I should plant one...

[Morabeza]

@ Zac LOL

@ JakeK, the palms you refer to are labeled as Coccothrinax ekmanii, they don't look so handsome as others I have seen from pictures

[Jeff Searle]

Jacob,

    Thanks for the tour. Your pictures were outstanding. It's too bad that there are not much funds to keep planting palms there and their upkeep. I'm sure the diversity could be much greater if given the chance.

Jeff

[paulgila]

great pics!not the ultra-tropical palms i expected to see

[Morabeza]

@ Paul, thanks, yeah I didn't think anyone on the board would find this post terribly exciting, but I thought "what the heck.."

@ Jeff, Thank you kindly.  I consider it a unique climate in the crater where both Brahea armata, Jubaeopsis caffra can grow to maturity happily when temperatures never drop below 60F.

Perhaps I will add some photos of non-palms...

[Morabeza]

Bombax ceiba 'Orange'

This winter deciduous beauty is of uncertain nativity, but widely grown from southeast Asia to the subcontinent. I was struck by the unique beauty of its orange flowers which, although equally stunning, are normally a dark red colour.

[Morabeza]

Pittosporum confertiflorum

Hawaiian name: ho`awa  (there is a kahako over the 'o' but the board software doesn't seem to allow that character )

Endemic Hawaiian species found naturally on O`ahu, Lana`i, Maui and Hawai`i.

[Morabeza]

Euphorbia haeleeleana

Hawaiian name: `akoko.

Curiously dioecious endangered endemic species naturally occuring only on Kaua`i and O`ahu.

[Morabeza]

Dormant Plumeria

Entrance to the Koko Crater BG.  

First thing one encounters is the Dean Colkin Plumeria Grove

[Morabeza]

Punica protopunica

Endemic to the island of Soqotra off the coast of Yemen.  Related to the edible Pomegranate.

[Morabeza]

Hibiscus scottii

Endemic to the island of Soqotra off the coast of Yemen where it is rare.

[Morabeza]

Chadsia grevei

Elegant species endemic to Madagascar. Looks very delicate but is actually quite drought tolerant.

[Morabeza]

Dracaena cinnabari

Stunning endemic of the island of Soqotra (Socotra) off the cost of Yemen. It's related to Dracaena draco the famous Dragon Tree native to Madeira, the Canary Islands, and Cabo Verde. This species is very rare in cultivation, and its status in habitat is vulnerable. I want to find out how old this specimen is.  

Read more

adults in habitat

[Morabeza]

This mystery Dracaena (or Cordyline?!) species has outrageously huge leaves. That's my tripod case for scale. There was no tag near either of the two specimens for identification.

[Morabeza]

I was surprised to see a random mutant infructescence among the hundreds of Sansevieria spp. naturalised in Koko Crater.  

Euphorbia punicea

This lovely Jamaican endemic Euphorbia species is endangered in its habitat.

[Morabeza]

Agave guiengola & Furcraea macdougalii in a pleasant setting at the "Americas" section of the Koko Crater.

[bgl]

Jacob,

Great pictures! Not exactly a crowded place. Were you the only the one there? ???

Bo-Göran

[Morabeza]

Mahalo Bo-Göran, yes whenever I go there, I never see another living soul.  Great place to escape tourists!

[jam99]

Thanks you Jacob for those pics. I don't know what the plant in post #24 is, but it isn't a Cordyline.

Cheers, Jan

[Zac in NC]

In the Agave guiengola post, there is also Agave bracteosa. Not exactly what I was expecting for Hawaii. Looks like you took pics of plants I would have. I knew that was a Punica just looking at the calyx. Plant nerds rule!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Zac

Oh and the B&W shot of the Plumeria is schweet!

[Morabeza]

@ Jan, you're most welcome

@ Zac, yes you are correct that is Agave bracteosa adjacent to A. guiengola.  Thanks for the compliments.  Hawai`i is full of botanical surprises.  I really like that Punica protopunica.

[Carlo Morici]

I loved Koko. Thank you for the report. I visited the park in 2004 with Nate Wong, botanist of the Honolulu Botanic Gardens, who took me through the succulent plant collections.

I was astonished by the magnificence of those Sabal uresana. Palm giants. Look back at post 79 and see how they tower above the Phoenix growing in proximity.

Carlo

[Peter]

Beautiful photos!  Incidentally, there is a Dracaena cinnabari  growing at the UCLA Botanic Gardens so it will do fine here in Socal.

[Al in Kona]

Mahalo Jacob for all the photos you shared with us from Koko Crater on Oahu.  I was there once quite a few years ago and only had time to see a small section of that garden.  I'd like to go back again and see it all and do it when the Plumerias are fully in flower.  

They need to at least plant some Pseudophoenix ekmanii there.  I bet they'd grow well in that hot dry climate of Koko crater.

[Morabeza]

@Carlo, I think Nate is one of the only forces that maintains the dignity of the succulents at Koko Crater.  Glad you had him give you a tour.  Those Sabal uresana are quite nice.  Upon first seeing them I mistook them for Washingtonia filifera jajaja...

@ Peter, glad you enjoyed them.  From what I understand there has only been one contemporary collection of Dracaena cinnabari seed and all the oldest plants in the US are from that collection.  I have a seedling from Guy Wrinkle that is a second generation from what was collected at Firi Peak, Soqotra.  The D. cinnabari at the Mildred Mathias BG is about one thrid the size of the one at Koko Crater and this is most likely because of the cooler winters of So Cal.  For Christmas gifts I bought a handful of D. cinnabari seedlings for some friends.  3 years on they report that outdoors in Santa Barbara they have grown very little.  I do think they are suited to California, just VERY slow, certainly much slower than D. draco.  

They are so amazing I think they are worth the effort where ever they will grow .  I do hope they will be more widely cultivated in the dry tropics so to provide enough seed to increase their numbers ex situ.  I wonder if Nong Nooch has any?

@Al, thanks!  The Plumerias are now bursting forth with bloom, just a few weeks on from when I took those pictures.  It's quite a sight, no leaves to be seed but flowers clusters on all the outlines of the trees.  

Pseudophoenix ekmanii !!! I want one!    Yes, that would be an excellent candidate for the crater.  Also Medemia, Ravena xerophila etc.... (on my personal wish list as well)  You know they don't even have a Bismarkia there?!

[SubTropicRay]

Excellent Copernicia macroglossa.  In fact, all of the specimens posted look gorgeous.

[Jeff Searle]

Jacob,

   You shared some really, really nice pictures of some interesting plants. I enjoyed them all.

Jeff

[Morabeza]

Thanks Jeff and Ray, I'm glad you enjoyed them.  

Here are some satellite shots to give a feeling for the setting of the botanical garden:

East tip of O`ahu.  I labeled some points of interest (Botanic Gardens)  

And here is an up close of the crater that contains Koko Crater Botanic Garden (it fills up the whole thing, though mostly full of Kiawe trees (Prosopis pallida)

[Zac in NC]

Ok Jacob- Where is UH Manoa? Thanks for those maps.

BTW this is post number 2000 for me. Whoo hoo.

Zac

[bgl]

Zac,

I'll answer for Jacob. Check out the top map in Post 38 and find Lyon Arboretum. That's all the way at the upper (northern) end of Manoa Valley, and you can see the residential area stretching all the way from Lyon and further down south, towards Waikiki. UH Manoa is in Manoa Valley, roughly where the word "Garden" (in Foster Botanic Garden) appears.

Bo-Göran