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The Laurel de Cera is native to the neotropical mountains. Wax around seeds was harvested in past times. Photo from Sta. Maria Mountains, northeastern Colombia.
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Noosa Heads, Queensland, Australia
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Kokio, hau hele ula or Hawaii tree cottonMalvaceaeEndemic to the Hawaiian Islands (Hawaii Island only)IUCN: Critically EndangeredHawaii Island (Cultivated)Hawaiian name is from hau, an introduced hibiscus (Hibiscus tiliaceus), perhaps by early Hawaiians. Hau hele ula literally means "red traveling hau."The early Hawaiians cultivated this species in Kona. The flower petals were used to make pink and lavender dyes. Sap from the bark produced a dark red waterproof dye for fishnets. The dual-purpose resinous dye would extend the life of the fishing nets and the red color underwater is nearly invisible to fish, thus the fishermen would catch more.The spectacular flowers were used for lei.Medicinally, the bark was also used to cure thrush.Kokia drynarioides and K. kauaiensis have helped to save Kokia cookei from total extinction. Because Kokia cookei currently does not produce viable seed, it now survives only by grafted scions (a shoot with a bud) on rootstock from either of its two close relatives. Efforts are being made by micropropagation to help save this species, one of the planet's rarest plants.EtymologyThe generic name Kokia is derived from kokio, the Hawaiian vernacular name for these species.Botanists Otto & Isa Degener notes this regarding the name: "Lewton believes the vernacular name comes from ko-ki, "'The extremety; the end of the tree; a very high place. The native name of the these trees, kokio, possibly relates to the habitat.'"The specific epithet drynarioides is derived from the Drynaria, a genus of ferns, and the Latin -oides, resembling.NPH00005
nativeplants.hawaii.edu/plant/view/Kokia_drynarioides
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Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
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Samsung digital camera
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We found a population of Gastrolobium hookeri fowering in September. What a pretty sight it was growing both sides of the track on a hill slope. It is a low shrub growing to 0.5m tall. There were few insects there, just the occasional native bee and ants. Photo: Jean
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Baltimore, Maryland, United States
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Girraween, Queensland, Australia
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Ashendon, Western Australia, Australia
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Native to the Capetown region of South Africa and known as Medusa's Head. Lotusland, Montecito, California.
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Oaxaca de Juarez, Oaxaca, Mexico
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Gibraltar, Gibraltar
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Arthur's Pass, Canterbury, New Zealand
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Orinda, California, United States
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Zurich, Canton of Zurich, Switzerland
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Herbarium Blackwellianum emendatum et auctum, id est, Elisabethae Blackwell collectio stirpium.Norimbergae : Typis Io. Iosephi Fleischmanni, 1750-1773..
biodiversitylibrary.org/page/291537
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Haleiwa, Hawaii, United States
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Orinda, California, United States
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Sydney, New South Wales, Australia