The seed pods are of curious shape, round and rather flat. They have been worn as costume jewelry, when lacquered in gay colors and attached to ribbons.
Jacaranda belongs to the Bignonia family and is a native of Brazil, where it got its name. A fine specimen grows on Punahou campus. Others are along Nehoa street, near Makiki, and on Manoa road at Kamehameha avenue, and also on Makiki Heights Road. (Plate IV)
CHINESE RICE FLOWER. MAI SUI LAN _Aglaia odorata Loureiro_
The tiny, round, yellow blossoms of the Chinese Rice flower tree probably suggest rice to the Chinese, although each floweret is considerably smaller than a grain of rice. They occur in clusters of hundreds, near the ends of the branches, each tiny flower a minute yellow ball which looks like a bud, but never opens wide. The blooming period is spring and summer.
The tree is rather small, spreading, and very attractive, being covered closely with glossy leaves of compound form. It is a member of the China-berry family and a native of China, from which it was undoubtedly brought directly to Hawaii by some returning traveler. It is still found growing mostly in the gardens of Chinese residents. There is a good specimen in the Mid-Pacific Horticultural Establishment. (Plate IV)
The intense fragrance and heavy, ivory-colored, waxen quality of the petals, indicates the relationship of the Michelia to the Magnolia family. Brought to Hawaii by the Chinese, it is still a great favorite with them. Older women wear a blossom in their hair, like a bit of carved ivory, and men may slip a few buds into their shirt pocket where the fragrance can be enjoyed.
The pointed buds, about two inches long, grow upright in leaf axils near the ends of the branches. Each is encased in a “nightcap” type of calyx, which slips off as the flower opens. The narrow waxen petals are numerous and grow around the greenish pistil. The flowers are rather inconspicuous but easily found by the scent, which is heavy, sweet and rather musky.
The tree grows upright and never attains great size. Its leaves are glossy, leathery, rather pointed and about eight inches in length. (Plate IV)
BOMBAX _Bombax ellipticum Humboldt, Bonpland and Kunth_
A Bombax tree growing in the Queen’s Hospital grounds presents such a striking appearance when blooming that it has become almost as well known as the Gold tree on School street. Unlike the latter, however, which blooms at erratic times, the Bombax can be depended on to put out its blossoms in March and April. They appear on the bare tree, a few at a time, suggesting a bunch of pink egret plumes.