Quantities of very long, sharp thorns on a low shrub bearing small, red flowers is the Crown of Thorns. The little, rosy-scarlet flowers grow in small clusters on longish stems. What appear to be two red petals are really a pair of bracts. The leaves are few, bright green, and appear on the new growth.
The plant, which is usually less than three feet high, forms a dense mass of thorns with its bare, brownish stems. It is sometimes planted in areas from which it is desired to keep people, as in the parking strip before the Advertiser building. The plant is a native of Madagascar, and a member of the Euphorbia family. ([Plate VIII])
It is a cousin of the Poinsettia, Euphorbia pulcherrima from Mexico, which grows very luxuriously in Hawaii.
SINGAPORE HOLLY
Malpighia coccigera Linnaeus
Miniature, holly-like leaves, crisp, shining and thorny, mark this charming little plant which is not a native of Singapore but of the West Indies. Nor is it a true holly, but a member of the Malpighia family. The plant is covered occasionally with dainty pink flowers, their five petals around the yellow stamens, very fringed and crepy and suggesting in form their cousins, the Orchid vine (Stigmaphyllon). They have a slight fragrance. The plant grows rather stiffly and is often seen in pots. ([Plate VIII])
DOMBEYA
Dombeya wallichii Bentham and Hooker
The Dombeya is a shrub or small tree with large leaves among which hang showy round, drooping heads of many pink flowers. The flower clusters grow at the end of long, downy pedicels and are so heavy that they hang far over. Individual flowers have five pink petals, and the stamens are united into a short tube in the center. Even when these flowers are brown and dried the cluster still hangs on the plant.
The leaves are big and velvety, roundly heart shaped, with lobes. The plant is a native of Madagascar and a member of the Cocoa family. A white flowering shrub of similar appearance is the Dombeya spectabilis. A specimen grows in the University of Hawaii grounds. ([Plate IX])
KALAMONA
Cassia glauca Lamarck
A very commonly seen shrub or small tree bearing numerous clusters of bright yellow flowers and, at the same time, bunches of brown pods, is the Kalamona. A native of tropical Asia, this plant has become naturalized in Hawaii and is often seen growing wild, especially in dry places. Its yellow flowers are similar in general form to those of its cousins, the Shower trees, and like them also, the foliage is compound. Each leaf is made up of many medium-sized leaflets. The flowers appear most of the year, but are best in spring and early summer. ([Plate IX]) The Hawaiian name has been transferred to this plant from a native Cassia of similar appearance, C. gaudichaudii.