A Gallery of Trees: Honolulu

I've always been drawn to trees.  Maybe it's because I've always enjoyed drawing (and painting) them.  They're good companions, sentinels, landmarks.  They age well, like Cary Grant.  They can offer up deep silence and don't require chit chat--though you can talk to them if you like.  They even smell nice, especially after a rain.  Sort of fresh and spicy.  Except for fruit trees which need pruning, they're self-grooming.  They've picked out the soil they thrive in.  They flower and leaf out on time; they draw their cholorophyll back inside and drop their leaves before winter sets in.  They let birds nest in their limbs, squirrels run up and down, and shade-seekers sit under them.  They inspire poetry ("I think that I shall never see / A poem lovely as a tree").  And when the wind blows and they toss (or even thrash) about, I like to think of them as getting their exercise.

So, when I was in Honolulu two winters ago (and again this past winter), I made a point of photographing a variety of trees.  Some in color.  And some in black-and-white which seemed to enhance their design quality.  Here they are.

I particularly love this picture.  To me it looks like elephants' legs.  But it's really a Baobab.

A wider view.

 

This is a Cannonball tree with its flowers and cannonball-like fruit growing up its trunk.

The giant tree here that looks as if it's about to shoot off into space is a Quipo.

This is a Monkey Pod tree, especially popular along residential streets.  I took this particular photo at Punahou School, the private K-12 that Obama attended.

Here is a close-up.  I couldn't resist a better view of its intertwining limbs.

A Mindanao Gum, in the eucalyptus family ....

...and a better look at its bark

An unidentified tree with a wonderful twisty quality ...

... and some sort of palm

The last two trees (below) are especially noteworthy.  The first is a Bo tree--the Bodhi or Pipal tree (the national tree of India), the same kind under which the Buddha achieved enlightenment.  And (take note) this particular tree is a descendant of the Buddha's tree!  It's right inside the entrance to the Foster Botanical Gardens in Honolulu.

The Bo tree

And, finally, here are three shots of the popular and spectacular Banyan tree with its aerial prop roots.

This is a single Banyan in the middle of Waikiki's International Market Place's open-air shops.

This big one is just outside the entrance to the Waikiki zoo.

And this gives a better look at the aerial roots

The Baobab, Cannonball, Quipo, Mindanao Gum, and Bo (Bodhi) trees were all in the Foster Botanical Gardens in Honolulu.  More information appears here.