Abies alba
Growing to heights of well over 150ft, the majestic silver fir (Abies alba) isn't an evergreen that you are likely to encounter in the typical suburban home landscape. Silver fir is a native of Europe's mountainous forests where it forms dense stands in places like the Ardennes and the Black Forest. One of my favorite places at nearby Spring Grove Cemetery and Arboretum (Cincinnati, Ohio) is a small grove of ancient corkscrew silver firs (var. 'Contorta', see photo in the Wallpaper Gallery). These beauties are worth seeking out - visit your local arboretum or park in USDA Zones4-7 and you can see for yourself! Read the profile too!

Pink Evening Primrose
The "evening primroses" are in bloom. This one is also called pink ladies (Oenothera speciosa ) and is a native of the south central United States. It is widely planted and is often seen along roadsides and in gardens across a much wider range. Click to download the pink ladies to pose on your desktop.

Narrowleaf Evening Primrose
This one is also known as sundrops (Oenothera fruticosa) and, like its pink relative, is a rampant grower, showy bloomer and is attractive to hummingbirds. Download large versions of this and other images from the Sundrops Wallpaper Gallery.

Part 65
This is the final posting of the Flowering Plants of Hawaii series. We thank Bruce for allowing Floridata to publish this extensive survey of flowering plant species found in the Hawaiian Islands. Bruce will be be updating this series periodically and the pages will be enhanced and re-formatted when we launch Floridata v.3 (sometime in May I hope!). Click to read Part 65 or here for the menu and series introduction.

Butterfly Gallery

Visit Floridata's Resource and Articles page.

Visit the Wallpaper Browser page to see more than 1,400 larger format (800x600px) plant images. Links to these images are also present in the title area of each Plant Profile.

Abyssinian Banana
The Abyssinian banana Ensete ventricosum is a tropical plant that resembles a palm in form but isn't one. It also isn't a banana which it resembles even more and to which it is closely related. Also called ensete, this tropical perennial is native to Ethiopia where the root stem is sometimes chopped and fermented and eaten as a not very delicious food.

More palmlike species that we include in Floridata's Palm list in order to make them easier to find:
cardboard palm (Zamia furfuracea)
coonti (Zamia pumila)
dragon tree (Dracaena draco)
giant dioon (Dioon spinulosum)
king sago (Cycas revoluta)
pony tail palm (Beaucarnea recurvata)
Virgin palm (Dioon edule)
ti plant (Cordyline fruticosa)
traveler's palm (Ravenala madagascariensis)

Vitex agnus-castus
Look for chaste trees (Vitex agnus-castus) in bloom at this time of year - hummingbirds wage war over which hummer "owns" the (apparently) delicious nectar stored within the violet blossoms. Butterflies love them too!

Some of my favorite hummingbird attractors:
beebalm (Monarda didyma)
bottlebrush buckeye (Aesculus parviflora)
calibrachoa hybrids(Calibrachoa X hybrida)
calliopsis (Coreopsis tinctoria)
coral bean (Erythrina herbacea)
cross vine (Bignonia capreolata)
cypress vine (Ipomoea quamoclit)
pineapple sage (Salvia elegans)
zinnia (Zinnia elegans)

Cucumis sativus 'Kyota'
Some vegetables grow best in cool weather, others like it hot. Many of our favorite edibles are grown in summer like tomatoes and cucumbers.

More summer (hot weather) edible species:
basil (Ocimum basilicum)
butterbean (Phaseolus lunatus)
common bean (Phaseolus vulgaris)
Jerusalem artichoke (Helianthus tuberosus)
eggplant (Solanum melongena)
okra (Abelmoschus esculentus)
parsley (Petroselinum crispum)
peppers (Capsicum spp.)
soybean, edamame (Glycine max)
sunflower (Helianthus annuus)
tomatillo (Physalis ixocarpa)