Stay Open

Hawaiian flora is beautiful and diverse. A subtropical region, Hawaii has a year-round warm climate and soil heavy with volcanic ash - two elements... more

by Kathy Bassett

Title

Stay Open

Artist

Kathy Bassett

Medium

Photograph - Photography - Digital Fine Art

Description

Hawaiian flora is beautiful and diverse. A subtropical region, Hawaii has a year-round warm climate and soil heavy with volcanic ash - two elements that play a role in the healthy growing of a wide variety of flowers and plants. There are three categories of Hawaiian flora � endemic, native and introduced. Endemic refers to those flowers, plants and trees found only in Hawaii. These are the flowering and non-flowering plants and trees that were brought to Hawaii by natural means, such as wind, tides and birds. Native refers to those species occurring in the Hawaiian Islands, but found elsewhere in the world. The third category includes foreign or introduced plant species. These are plants brought to Hawaii by people.Long before the human settlement of the Hawaiian island chain, the Islands were devoid of plant or animal life. Over thousands of years seeds, insects and birds made their way to the Hawaiian archipelago. Populating the Islands this way was slow - it is estimated that only one plant every 90,000 years was added to the Hawaiian landscape.

Uploaded

March 12th, 2016