Saipan Dandelions?

I have always been fascinated by dandelions and I finally found the "dandelion substitute" on Saipan that I was looking for!

It is apparently an introduced species that originally hailed from eastern and central Africa according to PIER. This is Emilia fosbergii which is more commonly known as Flora's paintbrush or red sow thistle. It is in the Aster family like the dandelion. It is named after the late Botanist Ray Fosberg whom you can read a little about in the University of Guam Herbarium website. You'll find information about my old biology professor there as well! Ah, the memories!

I thought I'd have to substitute the dandelion with a plant from a totally different family for wish making on Saipan (but I have a biology class story about that too!). Now that I found Emilia, I can make a proper wish.
When you find your dandelion, what will you wish for?

Ti napu.

The Beachcomber

IWTFY: Count on a dandelion

When I'm with you
I'll make every second count
'Cause when I'm without you
I'll be counting every second.
_______________________

I've always wanted to be a better writer. I am just not that good with creative writing nor composing poetry. There's just something about being able to put words together and play with the way they sound, and what they mean that I truly appreciate. I guess it is mostly because I can't seem to do it right, and my Creative Writing for Dummies hasn't done a lot to change the way I write.

That said, I started reading and appreciating I Wrote This For You which I learned about from one of Nella's links. There are some real good stuff there that you should check out. The tag and premise of the blog goes,

"I need you to understand. I wrote this for you. I wrote this for you and only you. Everyone else who reads it doesn't get it. They may think they get it, but they don't. This is the sign you've been looking for. You were meant to read these words."

I heard this old sappy love song that inspired the above verse. I got mixed reviews. Like I said, creative writing is not easy. It is difficult to not try feeling like The Sphinx from Mystery Men.



Some of his classic lines go like this:

"He who questions training, only trains himself at asking questions."

"When you doubt your powers, you give power to your doubt."

"When you care what is outside what is inside cares for you."

"We are number one. All others are number two or lower."

Classic! I need to watch that movies again. Soon.

Ti napu.

The Beachcomber

P.S. Oh, my sketch is of a mature dandelion flower down to its last seed. We don't have daffodils here but I like the idea of making a wish while you blow the seeds off. I wonder if we have something similar here in Micronesia? Ill have to share with you about Tabebuia rosea later.

I am already up there with Steiglitz, will you be my O'Keeffe?

Nobody sees a flower, really, it is so small.
We haven't time - and to see takes time like to have a friend takes time.

- Georgia O'Keeffe

Ti napu.

The Beachcomber

Saying “I love you” in the jungle

Guy: Do you see that vine with the balloon looking things hanging on them?

Gal: Yeah, what about them?

Guy: Let me get one for you. Now open it and what you find inside will tell you how I feel about you (wink* wink*).
Gal: Ok...

Gal: Oh, wow!

Guy: There are three hearts meaning: "I...love...you."

Gal: Awww! I LOVE YOU TOO!

My friend Sean says that I am full of lore when we go hiking. Well, I guess I just like to share and talk stories. That scenario is probably one of the best ones to share with people as you introduce them to the sights of Saipan. I actually owe this bit of lore to my little brother, Patrick who used to call them "love seeds". It took a while for me to find information about this particular vine and the internet finally caught up with several articles about them.

They are called Balloon Vine and their scientific name is Cardiospermum halicacabum. Cardiospermum translates to "heart seed" and the funny name halicacabum is Greek for "salt barrel" referring to the round fruit. They are also called heart pea or love-in-a-puff. In Mexico they are called frolitos which means "little lanterns."

Balloon vine is native to North and tropical America but has been distributed pan tropically. It has been naturalized here in the CNMI and doesn't seem to bee too invasive to the native environment. On Saipan, you can find them creeping in gardens and roadsides. They may or may not be native to Hawaii and I am still researching what their local names for the plant means. Anyone know what haleakai‘a, ‘inalua, pōhuehue uka, or pōniu means?

I found these ones climbing on a friend's wire-linked fence so you really can find them here and there.

Balloon vine is a year round (perennial) creeping vine that has trifoliate 4 cm leaves and paired tendrils that help them climb. The flowers are white and minute at 3 mm. The three-sided balloon-like fruits are about 3 cm in diameter which holds usually three of the characteristic black seeds with white hearts that look like they were painted on. The hearts are actually the hilium, or the scar that is the point of attachment for the seed to the fruit.

Balloon vine is part of the Sapindacea or Soapberry family, a group of plants contain saponin, a chemical that produces a soapy froth when mixed with water. Saponin is mildly toxic and can hemolyze blood but it is mostly found in the sap of the plants which doesn't stop us from enjoying the most well known members of the family which are the delicious lychee, longan and my favorite, the rambutan. C. halicacabum tincture is also used in anti-inflammatory ointments and gels as treatment for itchy skin conditions like eczema, neurodermatitis, psoriasis and allergic skin reactions.

WARNING: If you try this lore on someone make sure you look at the pictures so that you'd be able to tell C. halicacabum from what appears to be C. grandiflorum. C. grandiflorum or Showy balloonvine has bigger leaves (2.5 - 10 cm) and bigger more angled seed capsules (4.5 - 6.5 cm). The seeds don't always come in threes and the hearts aren't as white and shapely. I've seen C. grandiflorum on the way to Ladder Beach, the cliffs of Old Man by the Sea, and San Antonio Beach.
Look closely at the differences. The lore won't be as good or won't always work if you pick these instead!

The hearts aren't as bright and formed as you can see here plus there were only two seeds.

Thank you for letting me share one of my favorite lore.

The Beachcomber

Wild Passion in the Jungle

Bubbles Bev (or is it Mae now) told me that a title makes or breaks a story. So, I hope I hooked you into reading my story. Passion, fervor, ardor, obsession, infatuation, excitement, enthusiasm, zeal, craze: these are words that are enough get us all hot-blooded. We all need a little passion in our lives right? But, I hope you laugh a little when I slowly transition into talking about plants and flowers in my story.

Flowers fascinate me, but not just because of their beauty. Why are there flowers anyway? Flowers are well, basically sex organs. They are made for the purpose of continuing the line of the plants that make them. Their form, color, scent, feel, arrangement, etc. all point to the act of pollination. Flowers are either male, or female, but more often, they have both male and female parts.

When was the last time you received flowers? Sent flowers? People have tagged different meanings to types of flowers or the color of flowers, but the reason for the busiest day in the flower shop points to passion. The last time I sent a dozen roses to some one, the recipient said, “I loved them, sweetie! I thought I just wanted you to save the money for dinner and a movie, but these are breathtaking! I’m so glad you got them.” So in conclusion, no matter what they say: Flowers = Chichiiing! Hehehe! I jest.

I’d like to introduce you to the Passifloraceae family of plants. Passiflora means “passion flower” and we have two kinds on Saipan that were introduced possibly by accident. Their flowers are so attractively intricate and it’s hard to imagine that some people don’t notice them. Well ok, one is really small and cryptic. The PIER (Pacific Island Ecosystems at Risk) lists them as an invasive threat to our islands (especially to the Northern Mariana Islands) since their vines can cover other plants. When the conquistadores first saw these flowers in Central America, they named them after their symbolic passion for Christ. These particulars make the passion flower very fascinating to me.

The Fetid Passionflower (Passiflora foetida) is the larger of the two flowers. Look at how beautiful they are in the pictures below. But why is it called “fetid”? Some publications say that the plant has a stinking smell to it. I’ve never noticed their alleged stinkiness. The white and purple flowers are about 5 cm, and the 2 cm fruits are either pale yellow, orange yellow or red. The pulp and crunchy seeds offer a little and often unsatisfying snack, but they really resemble the taste of the more bigger commercial varieties of passion fruits. The climbing vine is hairy with lobed leaves and you’ll see them in trails, open lots and on wire fences. The pictures are from Coral Ocean Point, and the Costco lot. The beautiful Chamorro name for this flower is Kinahulo’ atdao, which means sunrise. I first got introduced to this particular Passiflora while growing up in the town of Canlubang in Laguna, Philippines. My friend Mark A. started eating them off the vines and said that they were called Kurumpot. What an ugly sounding name for such a pretty flower, I thought to myself!

Kinahulo’ atdao (sunrise): Does the name fit the flower?

That fruit's almost ready to eat.

Those are immature fruits in those pom poms. Pom Pom is also the Pohnapeian name of this fruit. The corky or wild passion fruit (Passiflora suberosa), like P. foetida, is also considered a weed vine. The small dark purple fruit is food only for wildlife but the 1.5 cm flower is just as intricate compared to the rest of the family. It is easy to see why people don’t notice them though, since they are very inconspicuous. Suberosa means “wood cork” and refers to the wood-like quality of the very mature vines. The fruit pictures I took at the Marpi area and the flowers pictures are from the Hyatt Regency garden and San Antonio Beach.

A ripe fruit for the birds. Some immature fruits on a creeping vine.The last story I would like to share with you involves a medical doctor that I knew on Guam who fell in love with the Indonesian passion fruit while vacationing in Bali. He loved the purple passion fruit or Siuh (Passiflora endulis. F. Endulis), but knew that customs would not allow him to bring any to Guam. So Dr. L decided to enjoy and eat as many as he can the evening before flying home. He made sure that he swallowed enough seeds whole. Lo and behold, a few months later he had a trellis with a beautiful vine full of immature passion fruits! Kind of a funny story, and I am sure that Dr. L's digestive system "cleaned" the seeds out, but this is a good opportunity to remind you that bringing plants or fruits from other places can have a devastating impact on our island’s unique ecosystem. Introduced species can become invasive and compete with the native flora and may even bring diseases or pests that can ravage the unwitting existing system. We must do what we can to protect an environment that can't do it by itself.

Thank you for letting me share.

The Beachcomber