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unidentified Calliandra flower

Calliandra sp.

Description:

Reddish pink flower structure consisting of spherical spray of thin filaments about one inch in diameter.

Habitat:

Tropical insular coastal valley.

Notes:

Spotted along the trail to the falls in Waimea Falls Park. In appearance this flower is similar to that of 'Ohi'a Lehua [Metrosideros polymorpha]. Some of the flower filaments have clear droplets at the end, perhaps some sort of nectar.

2 Species ID Suggestions

Mesquitella
Calliandra eriophylla Calliandra eriophylla - Wikipedia


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2 Comments

Saturniidae27
Saturniidae27 3 years ago

The leaf looks similar to Metrosideros polymorpha var. glaberrima
https://inaturalist.ca/observations/3613...

But most likely a singular bloom of Syzygium sp.
https://hawaiinaturejournal.weebly.com/h...
https://toptropicals.com/pics/garden/05/...

Allen Hoof
Allen Hoof 5 years ago

SukanyaDatta - Thanks for the suggestion. I don't think that Calliandra eriophylla is correct--its distribution does not seem to include Hawaii--though I agree that this spotting is Calliandra sp., possibly Calliandra emarginata, which has been reported in Hawaii. In addition to doubt about distribution, the leaves in the pictures I have found online for Calliandra eriophylla have a different structure than the leaves in this spotting.

But, thank you for the suggestion, which has narrowed the search.

Incidentally, while following up I learned during my online research that the flower filaments are stamens, and the droplets at the end are pollen, so your suggestion was doubly helpful.

Allen Hoof
Spotted by
Allen Hoof

Hawaii, USA

Spotted on Jul 4, 2018
Submitted on Jul 22, 2018

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