Loulu (Pritchardia palm)

Description:

"Visitors to Foster Botanical Gardens in Honolulu will see a small loulu surrounded by an iron fence. Planted over 100 years ago, this small palm has a historical significance in Honolulu. William Hillebrand (1821-1886), was a young Prussian physician and plant collector when he came to the islands to live in 1850. An enthusiastic botanist, Hillebrand planted many of the plants he collected on the grounds of Queen's Hospital and also on his own property in Nuʻuanu. After moving back to Germany, the property was sold to his neighbors Thomas & Mary Foster. Today, it is known as the Foster Botanical Gardens. It was sometime after 1851 that this loulu was planted by Dr. Hillebrand. The original habitat of this species, then known as Pritchardia macrocarpa, was in the upper end of Nuʻuanau Valley on Oʻahu and thought to be extinct when it was recently rediscovered. This particular loulu in Foster Botanical Gardens has been given the official desination as an Exceptional Tree of Hawaii." - excerpt from the non-Wikipedia reference.

Notes:

Spotted at Foster Botanical Gardens in Honolulu.