One of the most exciting experiences in Hawaii is to come upon a plant of the Petrea in full bloom. The cascading racemes of lavender-blue flowers cover the plant completely, turning it into a tumbling fall of lacy blue. The calyx seems like a flower in itself, being starlike, five pointed and periwinkle blue. The true flower is a rich violet in color and looks something like a real violet growing in the center of the calyx. This true blossom falls off the plant in a day or so, leaving the calyxes to suggest a cluster of Wistaria blossoms. Each raceme is seven or eight inches long and carries fifteen to thirty flowers. The plant blooms several times during the year, at least once in spring and again in summer.
The leaves are yellowish or grey-green and very rough in feeling. They give the plant its name of Sandpaper vine. It is a native of Brazil and a member of the Verbena family. A specimen may be seen on Metcalf street, near Hunnewell. ([Plate XII])
ORCHID VINE
Stigmaphyllon littorale A. Jussieu
Clusters of delicate, yellow flowers, suggesting small yellow orchids have given the name of Orchid to the two Stigmaphyllons which grow in Hawaii. They are, however, in no way related to Orchids but belong to the Malpighia family. In recent years they have become very popular in Honolulu but cannot yet be found widespread in gardens.
Individual blossoms have five unequal petals of a crepy, satiny, texture and a clear bright yellow color. The flower illustrated in [Plate XII] is Stigmaphyllon littorale. Its flowers are smaller and more numerous than the cousin, which is Stigmaphyllon ciliatum, but the form of the two flowers is very much alike. The foliage of the two plants, however, is different for while both have strong, leathery, shining leaves, those of S. littorale are oval, while those of S. ciliatum are small, pointed, quaintly heart-shaped and as the botanist says, they are “ciliate,” that is, fringed by coarse hairs. From this is derived its specific name of ciliatum.
These two vines are natives of tropical America.
GARLIC VINE
Cydista aequinoctialis Miers
A vine with charming clusters of orchid-colored, bell-shaped flowers, radiates a most disagreeable odor of bad garlic, which gives it the inevitable name of Garlic Vine, or, since it is a species of the widespread Bignonia family, the name of garlic-scented Bignonia. The flowers appear most prolifically in autumn and spring, but a few may be found almost any time. The white-throated tube of the blossom is slightly flattened and then broadens into five lobes of a purplish-orchid color. At the bottom of the tube are yellow stamens.
The leaves are a rich, glossy green, growing in opposite pairs, so that four appear to grow from one point on the stem. A straight tendril extends from between the pairs near the end of the branch. ([Plate XII])