Introducing Cedro Espino
All the time she was waiting to come to Hawaii, Jientje talked about how much she wanted to photograph Foster Garden. Last Wednesday we arrived in the parking lot and immediately Jientje was charmed by the berries on a tree, a bird on a nearby branch, and Cedro Espino.
What truly amazes me about meeting Cedro is that I have been to Foster Garden many, many times and I have never explored off the path from my car to the front gate. With Jientje that is all we did explore. We never went inside the garden proper. Long before we got to the entrance, Jientje was thirsty and tired. I told her there was a drinking fountain and benches just inside, but she wanted Perrier and air conditioning, so we left and never did make it back.
Still, I have been to Foster Garden many times so I was not disappointed for myself. In fact, I was quite content because if it wasn’t for Jientje’s whims and sudden changes of direction, I might never have noticed Cedro standing all alone at the edge of the parking lot.
Here he is. Cedro looks quite charming, no? See him flirting with Jientje?
Actually, he is rather a prickly sort of fellow. It isn’t wise to get too close.
In fact, while talking with the grounds keeper, we learned that not even the most devout tree huggers fancy Cedro. I thought that very sad, but I must say I do understand why.
Foster Botanical Gardens, Honolulu, Hawaii
O’Ceallaigh & The Quill
That tree trunk looks mighty dangerous! Not a tree to hug. LOL
Gigi — and, as Jientje discovered, not a tree to lean against, either! She automatically tried to use the tree for balance while taking an awkward shot and remembered only at the last second to look before she touched.
Ouch.
Linda — had Cedro lived my neighborhood when growing up, there would be one tree I never climbed ….
Linda had my thoughts exactly – OUCH!
Carletta — I think that is everybody’s first stunned reaction.
You could give him a kiss between all the prickles.
Hugging def. isn’t going to end well for the hugger, I’m afraid
Nicole — indeed! I thinking kissing might not be the best idea either unless on was very certain of her stance!
I love the shape and twisty branches, but, my, so prickly!!
Barbara — it is a remarkable tree in many ways.
http://www2.fpl.fs.fed.us/techsheets/Chudnoff/TropAmerican/html_files/bombac1new.html
Thank you, love. This is very informative.
The tree reminded me of Hershe*y’s Kisses…the ones we don’t have over here …
Mar — these kisses sting …..
What a cruel twist to design itself in a perfect shape for climbing on then add those thorns to stop you.
Violet — yes, I agree, and given the stubborn child I was, I likely would have tried to climb it anyway at least once!
This must be a distant relative to our “bottle trees” here. The thorns look very similar! They give lots of shade though!
Betty — Amoeba posted an informational website link in his comment.
Oh what a SHAME! Because my first thought was WHAT A GREAT CLIMBING TREE! But no… not great at all… a great TREE yes… a great climber? No. A great photographic specimen? YES!!!
Melli — I looked at tthose spikes — some over a half inch long — and thought I would have used them as traction when I was a kid and tried to climb that tree anyway. It is probably best I encountered it as an adult with some concept of my mortality (and a greater aversion to pain).
Ummm… yea!
Nice pictures. Could you imagine it would be like a maze for a lizard or something to crawl up that…might be fun for them to say the least
Thom — some unsuspecting bird tried to land there in the wind …..
Cute story to go with the photos. Very fascinating tree.
Sunny Sunday #6 – Color Me Sunny
Nessa — that story is one of dozens of such instant course changes. We almost never made it to any original destination, but it wasn’t my vacation so that didn’t stress me too much.
i rather fancy this tree.. it knows how to defend itself. the macro shot looks wonderfully prickly
Polona — Cedro is not shrinking viol;et, that’s for sure!
Yikes! Such a lovely tree until one gets close. Hm. Suddenly it reminds me of my sister.
I didn’t say that.
Susan — I think we all have at least one of these folk in our own family. Let’s just be happy that we aren’t they. Are we?
LOL! I have a whole family full of em! ALL quite prickly!!!
Amazing!
Maribeth — a good many of the plants of the world are.
That is amazing! I have seen some thorns on rose bushes, but never on a tree! I wouldn’t want to be walking too close to that tree with someone who didn’t like me.
Quilly — does Amoeba say if this tree is related to a Locust Tree? They are quite prickly too sometimes…