Leis made of these thin, silky flowers are the originals of the often-seen orange paper leis, like paper ropes about an inch in diameter. The paper leis, which are so artificial looking, are nevertheless really very much like the flower originals. The true Ilima lei has the soft texture of flesh, created by great numbers of the flowers being strung flatly together. In early days such leis were reserved for royalty and they are still called the royal lei. The Ilima is the flower of the Island of Oahu. ([Plate VII])
THUNBERGIA
Thunbergia erecta T. Anderson
Rich purple-blue flowers with golden throats are Thunbergias, closely related to the white and blue flowering vines of the same name. The velvety purple petals are lobes expanding a tube that is whitish without and bright yellow within. The flowers grow singly in leaf axils, emerging from a pair of whitish bracts. The blossoms are thin and delicate and fade almost at once after being picked.
There is a pure white flowering form with yellow throat.
The plant is an open, rather straggling shrub, about five feet high. Its slender branches bear small opposite leaves, rather pointed at either end. It is a native of tropical west Africa and belongs to the Acanthus family. ([Plate VII])
MOCK ORANGE
Murraya exotica Linnaeus
The Mock Orange bears flowers several times a year in sporadic outbursts which cover the plant with clusters of small snowy blossoms. At such times the fragrance nearby is so intense that no one in the vicinity can miss it. The Mock Orange is a true member of the Citrus family and has the delightful scent which they all possess. Individual flowers are five petaled, and waxy, like a very small orange blossom. When these petals fall they cover the ground with white. The fruit is a small red ball filled with a large seed. It is not edible, but very bitter.
Between periods of bloom the shrub, which may become a small tree, remains attractive in its small, glossy, dark green foliage. Leaves are compound, the leaflets being about two inches long and pointed. This shrub is a native of tropical Asia and widely grown. ([Plate VII])
JUSTICIA
Odontonema strictum Kuntze
(Justicia carnea)
The Justicia bears stiff, upright spikes of red flowers, each one a waxy little cornucopia with five small lobes. The flower stalk is a mass of buds, of which only a few, up and down its length, develop at a time giving it a rather ragged and irregular appearance, but prolonging its blooming season almost indefinitely. The open flowers fall quickly.