I’m sure that a lot of people walk past this tree every day without giving it any attention.
But when I was walking to the Art Department to view the annual exhibition of the Honolulu Printmakers in the department’s gallery, this tree grabbed my attention.
What a magnificent tree! And just as magnificent was the insistence of UH art faculty and students at the time that it be saved and incorporated into the building’s design. Its pretty rare to find that kind of consciousness when it comes to UH construction!
In any case, here are a few photos I took of the tree today. The final photo dates back to about 1972. It was taken from inside the old Gilmore Hall, which was demolished in 1973 to make way for the “new” art building. The tree is clearly visible in the center of the photo.
Discover more from i L i n d
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
There are fantastic variety of exotic trees in the Manoa campus. There’s even a self-guided tour brochure with each of the unusual exotic ones. Which is most of the trees on the upper campus.
I wonder how the Baobab got here from Africa and who planted it. It’s a beauty.
What about the “stink” tree over in the direction of Sinclair Library? I remember the “sausage” tree too. They might have been one and the same, cant remember. A cherished memory are the fragrant plumeria trees a big highlight of my time at UH. We would make lei for different occasions from them.
Its time they plant the beautiful native trees only found in Hawaii. As these rare plants go extinct due to habitat loss, its a real shame they aren’t planted in our schools, parks and public places. Hawaiian culture was also completely absent in the university life/curriculum when I attended. Hope that has changed too.
Hawaii is the “Endangered Species Capital of the World”. UH should make Hawaii’s own rare native trees a priority on campus. We the rarest trees on planet Earth !
Honolulu Zoo has the same inferiority complex. Millions of public money spent on an exotic reptile enclosure while Hawaii’s native species languish into extinction.
Trees are treasures. They make the urban ‘jungle’ a lot cooler, more livable, and introduce a healthy human-nature interface that is associated with reduced crime. The art department may be unique in UH construction management but there are other instances around Honolulu where significant trees have been incorporated into building projects. The quotidian tragedies of tree destruction, neglect, and obliviousness are often in direct conflict with applicable county ordinances but, as with the human rights violation of forced resident migration due to unpermitted TVU’s, enforcement of laudable ordinances is not our City’s strong point — to say the least. Every parking lot in the city that has add additions or has been built in the last 20 years or so is supposed to have trees that by now would have provided substantial shade cover to mitigate the urban ‘heat island’ effect. Look around – another environmental law honored more in the breach than in the observance.
Compare the baobabs in ala moana park with this one and see the difference in twice as much annual rainfall in Manoa.
What a wonderful tree.
For more background on the baobab and the new & old art buildings, check out Victor Kobayashi’s lovely history, “Building A Rainbow: A history of the buildings and grounds of the University of Hawaii’s Manoa campus.” It is available as a free PDF download from eVols at the UH-M?noa library website.