One morning after breakfast I grabbed my cameras and went for a walk along Palani Road. I was soon overcome by the variety of shrubs and trees that displayed some of the most colorful bouquets of flowers I have ever seen in a city environment. All but two of the photos on this page were captured on this walk. This fuchsia beauty is Bougainvillia glabra, or Paper Flower. It was named after Louis Antoine de Bougainville who sailed around the world in 1767-1769. Brazil is its place of origin.

This was a difficult photo to get. The tree was located on the corner of a busy intersection and the only branch with a full display of flowers required that I hold it down with my left hand so it would receive the best lighting while I snapped the photo with my free right hand. I took four shots, three in macro mode and one in normal. The normal was the winner. I am still working on the identification of this plant.

This is Plumeria. It's blossoms are a favorite among Hawaiian lei makers. Small trees always laden with clusters of these delicate white flowers can be found in and around the Hua Lani Shopping Center just a few blocks to the north of our hotel.

I understand that there are more than three thousand species of orchids in the world. This is one of them. Isn't it a beauty?

This photo of ginger and the orchid photo above it are my two favorite flower pics. They were shot in a rainforest near Hilo.

This is Royal Poinciana, scientific name Delonix regia. It is also called Flamboyant, or Flame of the Forest. Whenever Phyl and I went for a drive along Highway 19 we would often spot many of these small trees with their delicate Mimosa-like compound leaves and clusters of fiery reddish-orange flowers growing along the sides of the road.

I remember these whorls of shiny green leaves on trees in the rainforest near Hilo when we visited there in 1991 and there they were again along Palani Road in Kona this summer. The flowers look similar to those I have seen on a bush common in my neighborhood here in Iowa but the leaves are very different. In time I will get this one identified also and update this page.