A bouquet of Anthurium from Hana Flowers.
Hawaii is known for having a very diverse climate, right? Rainforests, dry forest, alpine, sub alpine shrubland, it has got them all. On my last trip there, I saw several souvenir businesses dedicated to sending fresh “Hawaiian” flowers to friends, family or even to yourself on the mainland. Seems like an interesting idea, no? Seems like the plant choices should really be diverse, yeah? Then why are they shipping a “little piece of Hawai’i” that does not include any NATIVE plants?
For example, at Hana Flowers you can buy arrangements with ginger, premium anthurium, upright heliconia. Which could a fun gift… but not Hawaiian one.
Ginger: introduced from Indonesia- Malaysia in 19th century
Anthurium: introduced from tropical America and Caribbean
Heliconia: introduced from Caribbean and South America
sigh.
It is a shame that these companies are not using native plants, but you could argue what is a native plant as if you go back long enough you will find that most plants “arrived” from somewhere else. This is true for most Islands of the world.