While the inflorescence is simply stunning, the rosette of silver leaves is nothing to sneeze at either. Growing only on the slopes of Haleakalā at altitudes of 7000 to 10,000+ feet, the succulent and hairy leaves are adaptations to the arid, windy, and cold alpine environment. The parabolic reflector shape of the rosette aids in focusing sunlight towards the growing shoot tips, keeping them warm. A brethren subspecies, similarly remarkable, is found on Mauna Kea.
While the inflorescence is simply stunning, the rosette of silver leaves is nothing to sneeze at either. Growing only on the slopes of Haleakalā at altitudes of 7000 to 10,000+ feet, the succulent and hairy leaves are adaptations to the arid, windy, and cold alpine environment. The parabolic reflector shape of the rosette aids in focusing sunlight towards the growing shoot tips, keeping them warm. A brethren subspecies, similarly remarkable, is found on Mauna Kea.
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Me and you and you and me, no matter how they toss the dice, it has to be, the only one for me is you, and you for me... So dear is the māmane tree to the palila, one of the larger Hawaiian honeycreepers. They prefer to nest in it and a good 90% of their diet consists of the immature seeds, leaves, flowers, nectar, and caterpillars found on it (naio berries sneak in as a food source too, but not by a long shot!). Among the largest of the Hawaiian honeycreepers, palila can get up to around seven inches, and sport a stout, rounded bill perfectly adapted for eating unripe māmane seeds, which contain bitter alkaloids that are toxic to other wildlife. Sadly, it is the only finch-billed honeycreeper remaining of sixteen. Critically endangered, and confined to the māmane and māmane-naio subalpine forests of Mauna Kea, palila move up or down the slopes depending on the availability of their favorite seeds. The steepness of the southwestern flank means that trees at various elevations will be flowering and seeding at different times, thereby providing a year-round food source. As a result, most palila are found on this part of the dormant volcano. When food is in good supply, nesting usually begins in the spring, often in the higher branches of good-sized māmane. Eggs generally hatch in about two and a half weeks. The juvies are characterized by a yellowish beak and white wing bars. Male and female adults have a dark bill and yellow head; in males the yellow extends to the nape, in females the nape has more of the greyish feathers of the upper back. Males also have darker lores - the area between the bill and the eyes. So what happened?
The story of the decline of the palila is a complicated one, with many factors perhaps playing a role. Anything that affects their special māmane affects them, including drought, development of the land for agriculture, and grazing ungulates. In 1978, the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals mandated the removal of feral sheep and goats from the critical habitat of the palila. With the numbers of grazers much reduced, the māmane forest has a chance to rebound. Yet overgrazing by these creatures has allowed the spread of alien grasses and shrubs, such as fountain grass and gorse, which increase the risk of fire in this dry habitat. Avian malaria, rats and feral cats, as well as predation by the pueo, have also contributed to the decline of palila. And if that isn't enough, parasitoid wasps affect the caterpillars they eat. But all is not lost! The Mauna Kea Forest Restoration Project is working hard to educate the public and to restore and protect the critical habitat of the palila. Also fighting the good fight is the Keauhou Bird Conservation Center, raising and releasing palila. Imagine how the world could be, so very fine...So happy together. Snug as a bug in a rug, the Hawaiian spiny lobster, Panulirus marginatus, spends its days hunkering down under rocks, or in the nooks and crannies of the reef. These coveted spots are shared with two other species of spiny lobster, but this colorful, nearly sixteen-inch banded spiny lobster is the only endemic one. Lacking the big, honking claws that the Maine lobster is so famous for, they rely on sharp, forward-facing spiny projections on the upper-sides of their body for protection from predators, including monk seals, octopi, and most certainly, humans (see below). At night they emerge from the rocks and hard places to do some hunting of their own. Scavenging is a part of their resume as well; their willingness to snarf up the occasional dead fish keeps the reef tidy and contributes to the health of the reef ecosystem. Spiny lobsters are capable of communicating and sounding warning calls by means of stridulation - the rubbing together of two body parts to make a rasping noise. Unlike crickets that stridulate by rubbing their wings together, these sea bugs (as crustaceans are sometimes called) produce sounds by moving their antennae. This results in a soft tissue called the plectrum to stick, then glide, stick, then glide - cello players know what I mean - over a file near the eyes, creating a sound something like running your finger down a comb. An advantage of this is that they can make these noises even when they are in the vulnerable time after moulting. Once threatened from overharvesting, pressure on ula poni was relaxed a bit in 2000 when a commercial lobster fishery in the NWHI was closed, and the area was designated a protected marine sanctuary under the Hawaiian Islands Coral Reef Ecosystem Reserve. Here in the MHI, ula cannot be taken May through August, females are off limits year round, and males must have a carapace length of three and one quarter inches. Spearing is prohibited. Check http://dlnr.hawaii.gov/dar/fishing/fishing-regulations/marine-invertebrates/ for updates. Consider that it takes a good eight years for the lobsters to reach maturity. And further consider that overharvesting by humans means less for young monk seals.
A friendly nettle, this māmaki. No stinging hairs to make the harvesting of its leaves uncomfortable, so pluck away and put the kettle on to steep up a little tea. This is the culturally important and endemic plant, Pipturus albidus. It is highly variable in height, leaf size, and coloring. Some can be described as trees; others as shrubs. Leaves can be purple-veined or white-veined. All sand-papery and serrated along their margins, māmaki leaves can be as large twelve inches, and vary in color from light green, through dark green, even reddish-green. The reddish leaves seem to do better in sunnier spots, according to the Native Plants Hawaiʻi website, though partial shade and moist conditions seem most suitable for all varieties. It makes sense then, that it is found throughout the islands, but not Kahoʻolawe or Niʻihau. Inconspicuous flowers are borne along the leaf axils, and become small whitish fruits which, in olden times, were used medicinally for a variety of ailments. The plant was also widely used in the making of kapa. Letʻs not forget the importance of māmaki to the two native butterflies, the Kamehameha butterfly and the Blackburn butterfly, both of which use the plant as a host for their larvae.
Todayʻs post features the flashy and silvery āhole, as tasty today as they were in days of old. Their high tolerance for fluctuating salinities and temperatures made them an excellent choice for fish ponds, and they were also used in ceremonies "to chase away evil spirits and for love magic" according to Nā Puke Wehewehe ʻŌlelo Hawaiʻi. These flagtails have a deeply forked tail, large eyes, and can reach sizes around eight or so inches. During the day, adults school on or near coral reefs where they get plenty of wave action; at night they disperse to forage. Subadults can be found congregating in fairly shallow waters. Waiāhole on Oahu and Keāhole Point on the Big Island are two place names that reveal the prevalence and cultural significance of the āhole.
Until recently, it was thought that there was just one species of āhole here; fisherman, though, recognized two morphotypes, and recent DNA analysis* has confirmed the knowledge of the locals. Kuhlia xenura and Kuhlia sandvicensis are difficult to tell apart, but as juveniles (juvies are called āholehole) Kuhlia sandvicensis sport zebra-like markings on the head, favor tidepools with an open-water connection, and do not appear to venture well up into freshwater streams as their more abundant counterparts do. Despite its species name, Kuhlia sandvicensis is not endemic to Hawaiʻi, but xenuria is - this mix-up a result of the earlier taxonomic confusion. No matter to the fishermen though, who know theyʻre both ʻono loa. * ASPECTS OF THE BEHAVIORAL ECOLOGY, LIFE HISTORY, GENETICS, AND MORPHOLOGY OF THE HAWAIIAN KUHLIID FISHES by Lori Keene Benson, 2002. While visiting Kaho'olawe last October, I came across this beauty eking out an existence in the parched landscape. It's the endemic Hawaiian poppy, pua kala, which translates as thorny flower, and indeed, these delicate blooms are expertly defended by prickly bluish-green leaves, stems, and seed capsules. This deterrent, combined with a bright yellow sap of bitter alkaloids, keeps even ever-munching cattle from grazing on it. The only native poppy, Argemone glauca has exquisite bright white petals surrounded by a deep yellow center of stamens and a purple stigma. It can be found on the dry leeward slopes of all the MHI, upward to around 1700 feet. Its preference for full sun and dry conditions makes it a great choice for xeriscape gardens. The yellow poppy you are more likely to come across is the non-native Mexican poppy, Argemone mexicana, which is naturalized in the islands.
Visit any of the many tidepools here in Hawaii and you will likely meet up with Istiblennius zebra, known locally as pāoʻo, zebra rockskipper, zebra blenny, or jumping jack. Their color can range from blackish to greyish brown with vertical banding, hence the zebra name. They are a bit comical looking, with a blunt, froggy mouth and froggy eyes, and an upright flap atop their head. And speaking of froggy, these guys can hop! Being tidepool residents, pāoʻo are quite wary of predators, and will dart under a rock, or leap on over to a neighboring tidepool for a quick get-away. They can slither their long, laterally compressed bodies like an eel, and seem to favor curling their tails around like a "J" when resting. Similar to other blennioids, they have a long dorsal fin, and are scaleless. Pāoʻo spend much of their time resting or feeding on the bottom, in search of detritus or algae. Females lay eggs, which they cement into small nooks or under ledges; the male guards the cluster until the fry emerge. The little ones take to the sea for a time, eventually returning to the pools. Abundant. What a refreshing word to use to describe one of Hawaii's endemic critters. This is the saddle wrasse, hinalea lau-wili, Thalassoma duperrey, one of the most common reef fish found here. And while wrasses can be tricky to i.d. due to the color changes they go through from juvenile to adult, the adult saddle wrasse design is pretty straightforward. The generic epithet, Thalassoma, comes from the Greek thalassa: the sea, and soma: body; and indeed, the green and blue body is the color of the sea, which would make it tough to spot if it weren't for that blazing red-orange saddle. Another thing to look for is the way they swim: wrasses beat their pectoral fins up and down like wings, rarely using their tail fins unless a quick get-away is in order. As juveniles they sport brown, black, and white snout to tail stripes, but will begin the color change when they are around two and a half inches. As adults, they typically get to be around six to eight inches, but can get larger, with the biggest coming in at around eleven inches. They inhabit rubbly areas, lagoons, and reefs, where they spend their days in search of crustaceans and other invertebrates, as well as fish eggs and limu. It has been reported that they will engage in cleaning behavior, plucking ectoparasites off of other fish for a quick meal. It is believed they all begin life as females, with some of them going through sex reversal, becoming males. The largest are known as supermales, and show a white streak behind the orange saddle. At night, saddle wrasses may literally bury their heads in the sand, snuggling in for a good night's sleep.
Birds of a feather flock together. And therein lies the problem for the koloa maoli, Anas wyvilliana. This endemic duck is endangered due to several factors, one of which is hybridization with feral mallards. Basically, the genes of the mallard are infiltrating the genes of the Hawaiian duck, causing "genetic extinction." To complicate the situation further, the hybrids are tough to distinguish from the real deal, making it hard to determine true population sizes and ranges. There is believed to be about 2,200 koloa maoli, with the majority on Kaua'i. Once abundant on all the major islands with the exception of Lana'i, by 1960's they were extirpated from all but Kaua'i. Captive breeding and release programs have brought them back to many islands, though those on Oahu are most likely hybrids. Both the male and female koloa maoli are mottled brown, and look a lot like female mallards. Males are a bit larger and a bit darker than the females, and have a greenish bill; females tend to be lighter in color, particularly on the head, and their bill color is more on the orangish side. They are denizens of wetlands, where they dabble the day away in search of aquatic invertebrates, molluscs, algae, small fish, and the like. Nesting occurs in dense vegetation (making them vulnerable to predation from mongooses, feral cats, and rats), primarily during the spring. Two to ten eggs are laid, and if we are lucky ducks, we'll have another clutch of Hawaiian ducks to grace our skies and waters. |
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