CREPE MYRTLE
Lagerstroemia indica Linnaeus
In midsummer there is a sudden burst of bright, pink blossoms in Honolulu, due to the flowering of the Crepe Myrtle. Most of these plants are shrubs, but sometimes they attain the size of a small tree. The exceedingly frilled, fringed and crepy petals, five to a flower, occur in such fluffy masses that individual blossoms are often hard to distinguish. There is a white variety and some vary in color to lavender.
Leaves are small, leathery, smooth above, but rough beneath. The stems are brown. The bark, when the plant attains tree size, is so smooth that in some Oriental countries, where it is native, it is called a “monkey slide” tree. ([Plate VIII])
A large tree in the Foster Garden bears heads of lavender bloom in summer, making a very striking appearance. This tree is Lagerstroemia speciosa.
Crepe myrtles belong to the Henna family and are natives of the Far East.
CROWN FLOWER. GIANT INDIAN MILKWEED
Calotropis gigantea R. Brown
The Crown Flower derives its name from its oddly shaped blossoms which rise in clusters at the branch ends. The flowers are a grayish lavender or a greenish white, the latter being more popular for lei making than the former. Above the five thick, starlike, greenish petals rises a miniature crown which looks as if it had been carved from white jade. It is tipped by the stamens and the five pointed style. These “crowns,” when stripped from the flower, are strung into leis which appear like carved beads; indeed, they have been imitated in carved ivory, perhaps the best of all the imitation flower leis.
The shrub grows rather tall. It is whitish, the stems and thick leaves being covered with down. When cut, the stems give off a milky juice as do other members of the Milkweed family. This plant is a native of India, where, like the Caesalpinia, it is sacred to Siva. ([Plate VIII])
BEACH NAUPAKA
Scaevola frutescens (Miller) Krause
A quaint little flower, which seems to have been torn in half, since the white petals radiate in only half of a circle, is called Naupaka-kai by the Hawaiians. It is a native plant, found wild on the beaches of these islands, and others in the South Seas. It has been adopted here for seashore planting, since it is resistant to wind and salt spray. There are other species of Scaevola growing in Hawaii, some of them preferring a mountain habitat, but all are characterized by the half blossom. The five petals have purple streaks. Leaves of the Beach Naupaka are thick and grey-green because of a velvety down. They become broader toward the tips than toward the base.