A couple of weeks ago I noticed an unusual flower growing near one of the dormitories at Vacation Resort Hale Pohaku, up at the 9,000 foot level of Mauna Kea. Unfortunately I had neither my camera nor the time to take a closer look, but at dawn this past Saturday I managed to take a couple of pictures. I didn't have a clue what it was, I've not seen this plant on Mauna Kea before nor did it have any of its own species nearby.Well, it took the brainstorming power of five astronomers last night but I think we identified it - a dwarf red sunflower although I'm still not absolutely certain, so if anyone knows for sure, please let me know!
Apparently, these are not wild flowers, so what it's doing in such a remote place is beyond me. What was fascinating to see though was the flower actually move when the sun rose over the slopes of Mauna Kea behind me. You could actually see the flower move and point towards the sun. I didn't realise they react so quickly to sunlight! During a break in last night's observing due to fog, we also discovered that wild sunflowers tend not to show this behaviour (heliotropism). The things I should have learned at school...
Dawn this morning revealed that the flower pictured at the top was looking a little unhealthy, some of the petals had come off, but a new flower was now beside it. Next time I'm up I'm going to have a look around because I'm really curious as to how this plant got up there. Are there sunflowers at the Onizuka Center for International Astronomy Visitor Information Station? It's relatively nearby.
4 comments:
I have one theory: Sunflower seeds from either a human snack (like trail mix) or from a bird feeder, scattered by either a wind, a bird or a hiker.
From what I've read now about sunflowers, this or the ring of fire one (which is similar in coloring) are cultivated plants for ornamental use, but all sunflowers produce edible seeds.
I know I thought sunflowers were called that because they are large and yellow, but I discovered when traveling through Germany, which has a lot of sunflower fields, that they do indeed follow the sun.
Keera - our telescope operator actually said he thought the flowers might have come from a hiker eating sunflower seeds - that snack is quite popular over here! Now that two sensible people have come up with the same hypothesis maybe it isn't as crazy as I originally thought ;)
I also thought sunflowers were yellow, but unless someone chimes in and identifies the flowers as something else, I've learned a little horticultural lesson...
Tom
There are dozens of types of sunflowers, ranging in color from nearly black to nearly white. They aren't all yellow, though I suspect the original flower is.
It looks like a gazania to me.
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