Foster Botanical Garden

Hawaii has such a lush and enchanting grenery, I wanted to go to a place where I could learn more about the native plants here. I'd seen this beautiful garden a couple times near Chinatown so I thought I'd go pay a visit today. I learnt it's called Foster Botanical Garden which has been here since 1853! I proved to be an unexpected surprise. I ended up spending the entire afternoon there meandering through the trees and taking in the aromas, colors, shapes and textures of some of the most beautiful trees I'd ever seen. Some I've always eaten from but never knew how they looked like; some which had amazing medicinal properties; some which were outright bizarre looking; some which reminded me of Malaysia; some towered to high I felt like a dwarf beside them. To say I felt two inch tall would not be an exaggeration. Many of the trees had been standing there for hundreds or thousands of years. 

Kauri tree 

 These massive Kauri trees from New Zealand are among the world's largest and oldest trees. Some have lived for over 1000 years.

Quipo tree

This giant three times my size in diameter has a soft wood used for making canoes and rafts in Panama. This particular quipo was planted in 1930 and is 80 years old!

Chicle tree

 This is a Chicle tree which sap was used to make the first modern chewing gum - Chiclets!

Pandan tree

For the hundreds of times I have known its aromatic leaves from store-bought packages and used it in my kitchen for making Malaysian curries, I've never actually seen the actual Pandan plant. Never knew it grew this big!

Doum Palm

Doum Palm

 This unusual palm actually has branches. Apparently ancient Egyptians enjoyed its doum palm fruits which tasted like gingerbread. They even buried them in pharaoh's tombs!

Baobab

This massive baobab tree is thought to be planted in 1940. In Africa, bats brink nectar from the night-blossoming flowers, baboons eat the fruit, giraffes nibble on tender leaves and elephants chew on the moist bark. For us humans, the bark can be used for fiber, the fruit makes a refreshing drink, the leaves are medicinal and we can take a rest inside a hollow old baobab.

Cycads

 These cycads on the ground are often called "living fossils" because millions of years ago they dominated the landscape. They are rare and endangered today due to habitat destruction and over-collecting.

Black Pepper tree

Cannonball tree

 This strange South American tree sprouts fruits and flowers from the trunk! I've never seen anything like it!  I'd never believe it until I saw it. The cannonballs are filled with foul smelling blue pulp that attracts pigs and chickens!

Sausage tree

Another awkward looking plant, the long woody thing hanging down is actually the sausage tree's fruit. Many animals in Africa such as baboons and giraffes rely on the 'sausages' for food.

Kapok tree

Kapok tree roots - this little nook could probably hide 20 people easily

The Kapok tree was probably my favorite. Standing next to this tree, I felt like I was on the set of Jurrasic Park. Its beautiful buttress roots actually support the tree. 


There's something about massive trees. I find it calming standing beside them. Sort of the feeling one gets when sitting beside a wise old grandfather who'd seen it all, done it all, know it all. Their stillness, their great big trunks and leaves, their massive roots digging into the ground ever so slowly but surely - it's magic happening every moment. Somehow the modern   cityscape lacks their majesty and grace.


Trees are healing. It's no wonder the ancient aboriginal people felt trees and people were linked and trees were respected as 'spirits'. Today, walking among such giants spoke mountains of knowledge to me. They're not just big chunks of wood lying around. They are living and breathing creatures. Their stillness stuns me to silence. I have a deeper respect for their presence. I see how their survival is linked to ours in keeping this earth livable. Their silence and survival especially in days like these, when things disappear so rapidly, speaks mounds of history and strength to me. I went home feeling educated, moved, humbled, ironically at peace and simply in awe.