What is the Hawaiian Owl?

Owl

I wondered the other night when I was outside and saw something fly over my house. I thought it may have been a bird of some sort but later I found out it was an owl. So this week I decided to find out what the Hawaiian owl is called and what it means when you see it flying in the sky.
The Hawaiian owl is called the pueo and is very special and considered something holy to the native Hawaiians. The Hawaiians consider the pueo to be their guardians or aumukua who have passed away and when seen flying in the air the pueo are viewed as watching over them. The pueo are said to protect individuals from harm and death. On Maui the Pueonuiakea guides people to and from their home safely. Ka pueo kani kaua is a chant speaking of the pueo protecting during fierce battles. It is said that Kamehameha was saved from falling off a cliff by a pueo flying directly over his face so he had enough time to lodge a spear in the cliff which saved him from death.
There are certain places in Hawaii where the pueo is important like in Manoa, Diamond Head, Moanaulua, and Waikiki on Oahu. So next time you see an owl flying at night over you it means

you are safe and being watched over.

What does mochi mean in Hawaii?

Pounding Mochi

Growing up in Hawaii and being Japanese we would make mochi at the end of every year and eat it for good luck. Mochi is something that we believe will stray away the bad spirits and bring in gook luck for the upcoming year. Many Japanese drink mochi soup also and eat red fish but our family would just pound mochi and put it in our house for good luck. Mochi can be pounded using the mallet or kine and the usu or stone which the mochi is in. It’s a time where the family would get together and each family member would have a role in producing the ono mochi. The men would steam the rice and be in charge of the pounding of the mochi. Once the mochi is pounded and deemed ready for eating the women would role the mochi in balls and put black beans in it. Mochi was the start of bringing in a prosperous New Year along with the cracking of fireworks. Check out this website if you want to learn about mochi and other Japanese customs

Mochi that is placed in the house for goodluck along with a tangerine.

Process of becoming Mochi

1. Let the glutinous rice soak in water overnight
- Glutinous rice also known as sticky rice, sweet rice, waxy rice, botan rice,
mochi rice, and pearl rice) is a short grained Asian rice that becomes sticky when
cooked. Glutinous is a Latin word that means sticky or glue like and containing
no gluten.
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What is Lychee?

Ever since growing up here in Hawaii we had a huge Lychee tree behind of my house. My grandma said my grandpa when buying the house began to grow the Lychee seed over 50 years ago. Over the years the Lychee tree has grown to be really big and a nuisance in a way because it attracts a lot of birds and ugly weeds to grow around it. So recently we at to trim the tree a bit so we can contain its growth and pick the lychee when the tree bears its fruit.
Lychee originated was from China and first came to Hawaii in 1873. Most of the trees in Hawaii are not sold commercially but are planted in neighborhoods and yards of people. Lychee is normally grown from sea level to 2000 ft. The Lychee tree grows with its bright green leaves that distinguish the tree as well as bearing the fruits between May and August. The tree may grow 40-50 feet high. When the lychee branch is ready to flower a fruit it begins with a flower looking stalk and when it bears a fruit it begins with a slimy red shell, small delicious fruit with a black seed.
To ensure a healthy Lychee tree experts say that it grows best in a moist, wet environment with at least 80 inches of rain like here in Hilo. The birds like I mentioned before are nuisances to the Lychee tree because they tend to pick and eat on the newly ripe lychee and tend to spread the seeds to other areas where they germinate and grow.
If you all see a Lychee tree when it bears fruit in the summer, go and try this delicious fruit.

Impact of Goats to native koa tree reproduction?

Goats came to Hawaii nearly 200 years ago and are considered wild and free to explore native Hawaii ecosystems. The climates the goats live in are dry and lowlands to the mountains. Studies done showed that goats would eat the native koa tree roots or suckers which help reproduction process and inhibit the growth of new koa trees on Mauna Loa. Because of the suckering the koa trees are endangered to grow maturely. Normally koa trees grow 10cm in the unfenced and free forest areas but at .5 meters to 2 meters in height they are missing their suckers. Researchers found that there are hundreds of koa trees growing inside the goat exclosure in which most koa trees are dead or about to die. This shows that the goats are being a nuisance in native forest areas and are truly affecting the reproduction cycle of the koa tree. What should be done to help stop the goats in hindering the reproduction cycle of the koa tree?

What are Anthuriums?

Red and White Anthurium
As a young child I have always looked at my grandma's beautiful anthurium flowers in her garden and wondered what exactly they were. Therefore, I have decided to do some research on anthuriums. Anthuriums are herbaceous epipthytes and are produced with a wide arrange of colors and heart shaped spathes. They come from the family Araceae and consists of over 100 genera which include Anthurium, Dieffenbachia, Xanthosoma, Spathiphyllum, and Aglaonema to name a few. The genus Anthurium consists of over 1500 species and over 600 which inhabit tropical America.
S.M. Damon introduced the anthurium to Hawaii in 1889 from London and the color consisted of a pink color. They were grown at the Damon Estates in Moanalua then distributed by other growers by vegetative propagation. By 1930s and 1940s Hawaii growers started to cultivate the anthurium by seed propagation leading to increased variation of the plant.
Today in the Hawaiian floriculture industry the anthuriums are the most important and most cut. The anthurium industry grew from mainly backyard growers and by 1959 there were over 266 farms on Hawaii island, 88 from Oahu, 7 on Kauai, and 4 on Maui. Demand on the anthurium increased from 40 acres to 400 acres of planting. Hawaii today is the top four producers of Anthuriums worldwide.