Lily Lake Trail To Bird Aviaries

More often than not, when you walk past the west side of Lily Lake, the air is filled with the hearty vocalizing of macaws. With their brilliant plumage, these South American birds enhance the Garden's tropical atmo- sphere. They include a pair of scarlet macaws, a pair of blue and gold macaws, and a pair of hybrid red and green rainbow-colored macaws.

The birds are named after three prominent landscape features: Ono and Mea, for Onomea Bay; Hama and Kua, for the Hamakua Coast; and Hono and Lii, for the Honolii River located in another beautiful valley near Hilo. Macaws can live for over a hundred years, and a breeding program is planned for these young birds to help insure the survival of their species.

Along the trail are several unique red sealing wax palms, so named by the British in Singapore because their trunks were the color of the brilliant red wax then used to seal important documents. A very rare tall specimen of this palm was donated to the Garden by Margaret Hirose, an ardent plant lover and long-time Hilo resident whose lifelong dream was to establish a botanical garden. It is the only red sealing wax palm in the entire state of Hawaii known to produce seeds. A plaque in memory of the late Margaret Hirose, who also donated many other specimens to the Garden, is placed at the foot of this beautiful tree.

Along this trail you will see more than 40 species of plants.

Torch Ginger Forest

From here visitors enter a large grove of torch ginger. Introduced to Hawaii from the island of Mauritius in the Indian Ocean, torch gingers thrust their huge flower heads skyward from long, thick red stalks. The showy, waxen red cones bloom from May to July and can grow up to eight inches in diameter. The plants, which reach heights of 20 feet, have enormous leaves that shade the path below.

Frequently orange-red brownea blossoms, also called rouge puffs, burst out of their buds on the naked trunk of the brownea tree. Lucky is the visitor to spy this extraordinary blossom, which resembles a huge orange powder puff.

Giant Fern Circle

Approaching the Giant Fern Circle, we are near the heart of the Garden. Giant cycads, believed to be the first plants that colonized our planet, thrive in this moist rainforest climate. Giant tree fern fronds reach for the sky, sword ferns wreathe the path, and primitive cycads complete the prehistoric atmosphere. Watch for the Flame of the Forest high up in the banyan tree-a spectacular red flowering vine whose seeds were brought to the Garden from Australia by the Lutkenhouses.

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HAWAII TROPICAL BOTANICAL GARDEN
27-717 Old Mamalahoa Highway
P.O. Box 80, Papaikou, HI 96781
Phone: 808-964-5233 FAX: 808-964-1338