These plant species grow in the salt spray and loose sand of beaches and the moist lowland slopes of volcanoes. They flourish in poor soils and under very harsh climatic conditions.
gallery pages:  <  1  2  3  4  5  6  >  >>
< 25 of 251 >
A close-up shot of the maturing cone-like fruits of an Ironwood Tree (Casuarina equisetifolia) at Ho'okipa Beach, north Maui.
The foliage ("needles") and fruit ("cones") of an Ironwood Tree (Casuarina equisetifolia), Keanae Peninsula, north Maui.
At first glance, an Ironwood Tree (Casuarina equisetifolia) with its needle-like foliage and woody fruit looks much like a Pine tree (Pinus sp.). However, the deciduous tufts of jointed and grooved “needles” are not true leaves: they are actually small jointed branches or twigs that perform the same functions as leaves. Minute tooth-shaped structures protruding from around the tops of each needle’s “joints” are the true leaves. Ho'okipa Beach, north Maui.
Ironwood Trees (Casuarina equisetifolia) towering over mature Coconut Palms (Cocos nucifera) along a beach front in the Kawalilipoa neighborhood of Kihei, south Maui.
Ironwood saplings (Casuarina equisetifolia) colonize the stabilized sand of the beach berm, Kanaha Beach, north Maui.
Kanaha Beach, north Maui. This photograph shows several of the species of trees, sprawling bushes, vines, and grass that help stabilize so many of Maui's sandy beaches: the tallest trees are Iron Wood (Casuarina equisetifolia), Kiawe or Mesquite (Prosopis pallida), and Candlenut or Kukui (Aleurites mollucana). The light-green bushes near the center of the photograph are Tree Heliotrope (Tournefortia argentea).
Ironwood saplings (Casuarina equisetifolia) colonize the stabilized sand of the beach berm, Kanaha Beach, north Maui.
Kiawe or Mesquite (Prosopis pallida) crowd together to form a dense canopy along a beach front in the Kawalilipoa neighborhood of Kihei, south Maui. The piled-up sand along the shoreline is an artificial berm to help stave off the excessive beach erosion caused by long-shore drift along this stretch of Ma'alaea Bay.
Just inside the canopy of a thicket of Kiawe or Mesquite (Prosopis pallida). Beach front in the Kawalilipoa neighborhood of Kihei, south Maui.
Ironwood saplings (Casuarina equisetifolia) colonize the stabilized sand of the beach berm, Kanaha Beach, north Maui.
Ironwood saplings (Casuarina equisetifolia) colonize the stabilized sand of the beach berm, Kanaha Beach, north Maui.
Ironwood saplings (Casuarina equisetifolia) colonize the stabilized sand of the beach berm, Kanaha Beach, north Maui.
gallery pages:  <  1  2  3  4  5  6  >  >>
< 25 of 251 >