I answered it - this particular butterfly bush is a hybrid. Hence Botanical designation: Buddleja crispa×Buddleja marubiafolia from the Google page I linked to. Now, if a simple hybrid parentage like this gets its own name published for it at some point - as was done with Prunus x yedoensis - then named horticultural selections from the same cross may get repeatedly listed with the hybrid species name included. When authors are aware of it. As in P. x yedoensis 'Akebono'. Otherwise if hybrid parentages are not known or do not have their own names - as when involved genetic backgrounds are too complex for this approach - then it is routine to just give the genus and cultivar. For an example of an apparent result of one of these latter situations we have to look no farther than the P. 'Shirotae' above your name.
Thanks, Ron. Since on the VCBF cherry blossom forums we have been saying P. 'Akebono', and in both cases omitting the "P", I wasn't sure how this worked. I understand that if I see a name listed both ways, I would have to understand the parentage to know which format to properly use.
It seems time for a few more photos. These are from Lyon Arboretum. I've seen a few Ixora lately with larger leaves. The second photo here includes some developing fruits. I started this thread with a comment about Pl@ntNet. It nailed this ID of Sauropus androgynus in the Phyllanthaceae family with 97% confidence. Its highest level of confidence for suggestions for this plant with all upside-down leaves was 4%, and its suggestions are all spectacularly wrong. This has a ferny appearance, but is not a fern. OK, a little colour - Ruellia chartacea, in the Acanthaceae family.
Ravenala - Strelitzia - Heliconia I was getting myself all confused, so here are some photos of these plants. Ravenala madagascariensis, common name Travellers Palm, is in the Strelitziaceae family. Its most noticeable feature is that the leaves form a fan in a single plane. There are several flower bracts in an inflorescence, also in a single plane, and the flowers that I have seen in photos are white. It is not currently in flower, but there is a good pair of photos on a Cook Islands Biodiversity Bishop Museum page. Here are some trees, some with inflorescence bracts. As they age, the leaves fall off, revealing a trunk, but young ones have leaves down at the ground. I saw this structure of pods at restaurant last night. The pods look similar to what I saw posted for Ravenala, but I found a photo of another Strelitziaceae, photo named Phenakospermum guyannense, which looks very similar to Ravenala. I don't know how I'd distinguish them, except that the bracts in photos I see are not lined up as well in a single plane. I wondered if this structure might be the seed pods of a Ravenala. The Bird of Paradise with white flowers is Strelitzia nicolai, is also in the Strelitziaceae family. Here is a photo of Ravenala on the right, Strelitzia nicolai on the left, followed by Strelitzia photos. That messy arrangement of leaves is what led me to confuse these with Heliconia caribaea, in the Heliconiaceae family. These also have boat-shaped bracts holding their flowers. The first two photos are bottom and top of one plant. These come in red and yellow, and National Tropical Botanical Garden does not give them different names. There are cultivars named 'Gold' and 'Yellow', and for red there is 'Purpurea'. I don't know that I can assume the cultivar names.
The front of the hotel next to me is lined with all different Codiaeum variegatum-Crotons. These are in the Euphorbiaceae family. This is my favourite one. Here are a few larger plants at Foster Botanical Garden. They didn't do cultivar names on any of theirs, just a single sign saying Crotons.
Here's an example of what I mean. These leaves are all nicely lined up in a single plane. I had a hard time deciding it's Strelitzia and not Ravenala until I looked at my photos and decided that it just has one, maybe two of the boat-like bracts, so is Strelitzia nicolai. These are on the UH Manoa campus, but are not on the map. There are a lot of Roseodendron in the area where I was last weekend, but none were in bloom. And there is on the map a Handroanthus, also not in bloom. So I didn't notice any of them.
I did just get a reply from Joshlyn D. Sand, Director, Honolulu Botanical Gardens: Yes, that tree is believed to be a species of Terminalia, but unfortunately, we do not have the identification down to the species level. I also do not have a comprehensive inventory for this park, but if you have other questions about the park trees we are happy to assist.
