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ʻIʻiwi
The iiwi (pronounced , ''ee-EE-vee'') (''Drepanis coccinea'') or scarlet honeycreeper is a species of Hawaiian honeycreeper. The iiwi is a highly recognizable symbol of Hawaii. Etymology Linguists derive the Hawaiian language word ''iiwi'' from Proto-Nuclear-Polynesian ''*kiwi'', which in central Polynesia refers to the bristle-thighed curlew (''Numenius tahitiensis''), a migratory bird.Protoform: KIWI.1* Polynesian Lexicon Project Online. The long decurved bill of the curlew somewhat resembles that of the iiwi. Description The adult iiwi is mostly scarlet, with black wings and tail and a long, curved, salmon-colored bill used primarily for |
Hawaiian Honeycreeper
Hawaiian honeycreepers are a group of small birds endemic to Hawaii. They are members of the finch family Fringillidae, closely related to the rosefinches (''Carpodacus''), but many species have evolved features unlike those present in any other finch. Their great morphological diversity is the result of adaptive radiation in an insular environment. Many have been driven to extinction since the first humans arrived in Hawaii, with extinctions increasing over the last two centuries following European discovery of the islands, with habitat destruction and especially invasive species being the main causes. Taxonomy Before the introduction of molecular phylogenetic techniques, the relationship of the Hawaiian honeycreepers to other bird species was controversial. The honeycreepers were sometimes categorized as a family Drepanididae,Clements, J. 2007. ''The Clements Checklist of the Birds of the World.'' 6th ed. other authorities considered them a subfamily, Drepanidinae, of Frin ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] [Amazon] |
Feather Cloak
Feather cloaks have been used by several cultures. It constituted noble and royal attire in and other Polynesian regions. It is a mythical bird-skin object that imparts power of flight upon the Gods in mythology and legend, including the account. In medieval Ireland, the chief poet ( filí or ollam) was entitled to wear a feather cloak. The feather robe or cloak (Chinese: ''yuyi''; Japanese: ''hagoromo''; ) was considered the clothing of the Immortals ('' xian''; ), and features in swan maiden tale types where a ''tennyo'' ( "heavenly woman") robbed of her clothing or "feather robe" and becomes bound to live on mortal earth. However, the so-called "feather robe" of the Chinese and Japanese celestial woman came to be regarded as silk clothing or scarves around the shoulder in subsequent literature and iconography. Hawaii Elaborate feather cloaks called were created by early Hawaiians, and usually reserved for the use of high chiefs and '' aliʻi'' ( royalty). The scarl ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] [Amazon] |
Mamo
Mamo or woowoo is a common name for two species of extinct birds. Together with the extant ʻIʻiwi they make up the genus '' Drepanis''. These nectarivorous finches were endemic to Hawaii but are now extinct. The Hawaiian name may be related to the name of the ōō ('' Moho nobilis''), a bird with a similar appearance. Another name for the mamo was ''ōō-nuku-umu'', meaning "ōō with the sucking beak". Two species are known. Hawaii mamo The Hawaii mamo (''Drepanis pacifica'') was about in length. Its plumage was glossy black with yellow rumps and thigh feathers and a small yellow shoulder patch. The tail was black and there was a white basal primary patch and white shafts along the primaries. The bill was long, curved and black. Legs were dark gray or black This was a shy species that lived in the forest canopy and fed on the nectar of '' Lobelia'' species that possess curved, tubular flowers. Its call was a long, plaintive whistle. The bright golden-yellow ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] [Amazon] |
Georg Forster
Johann George Adam Forster, also known as Georg Forster (; 27 November 1754 – 10 January 1794), was a German geography, geographer, natural history, naturalist, ethnology, ethnologist, travel literature, travel writer, journalist and revolutionary. At an early age, he accompanied his father, Johann Reinhold Forster, on several scientific expeditions, including James Cook's Second voyage of James Cook, second voyage to the Pacific Ocean, Pacific. His report of that journey, ''A Voyage Round the World'', contributed significantly to the ethnology of the people of Polynesia and remains a respected work. As a result of the report, Forster, who was admitted to the Royal Society at the early age of twenty-two, came to be considered one of the founders of modern scientific travel literature. After returning to continental Europe, Forster turned toward academia. He taught natural history at the Collegium Carolinum (Kassel), Collegium Carolinum in the Ottoneum, Kassel (1778–84), a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] [Amazon] |
Flower
Flowers, also known as blooms and blossoms, are the reproductive structures of flowering plants ( angiosperms). Typically, they are structured in four circular levels, called whorls, around the end of a stalk. These whorls include: calyx, modified leaves; corolla, the petals; androecium, the male reproductive unit consisting of stamens and pollen; and gynoecium, the female part, containing style and stigma, which receives the pollen at the tip of the style, and ovary, which contains the ovules. When flowers are arranged in groups, they are known collectively as inflorescences. Floral growth originates at stem tips and is controlled by MADS-box genes. In most plant species flowers are heterosporous, and so can produce sex cells of both sexes. Pollination mediates the transport of pollen to the ovules in the ovaries, to facilitate sexual reproduction. It can occur between different plants, as in cross-pollination, or between flowers on the same plant or even the same f ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] [Amazon] |
Sickle
A sickle, bagging hook, reaping-hook or grasshook is a single-handed agricultural tool designed with variously curved blades and typically used for harvesting or reaping grain crops, or cutting Succulent plant, succulent forage chiefly for feeding livestock. Falx was a synonym, but was later used to mean any of a number of tools that had a curved blade that was sharp on the inside edge. Since the beginning of the Iron Age hundreds of region-specific variants of the sickle have evolved, initially of iron and later steel. This great diversity of sickle types across many cultures can be divided into smooth or serrated blades, both of which can be used for cutting either green grass or mature cereals using slightly different techniques. The serrated blade that originated in prehistoric sickles still dominates in the reaping of grain and is even found in modern grain-harvesting machines and in some kitchen knives. History Pre-Neolithic The development of the sickle in Mesopota ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] [Amazon] |
Hawaiian Folklore
Folklore in Hawaii in modern times is a mixture of various aspects of Hawaiian mythology and various urban legends that have been passed on regarding various places in the Hawaiian islands. The following is a partial list of some of these legends. Ancient Hawaiian folklore Night marchers According to Hawaiian legend, night marchers (''huaka‘i pō'' in Hawaiian) are ghosts of ancient warriors. They supposedly roam large sections of the island chain, and can be seen by groups of torches. They can usually be found in areas that were once large battlefields (the Nuʻuanu Pali on the island of Oahu is a good example.) Legend has it that if you look a night marcher straight in the eye, you will be forced to walk among them for eternity, but if you have a relative taken by them, you will be spared. Hawaiians say that in the presence of night marchers, one should lie down on their stomach, face down to avoid eye contact, stay quiet, breathe shallowly, and don't move. Some say tha ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] [Amazon] |
Whistle
A whistle is a musical instrument which produces sound from a stream of gas, most commonly air. It is a type of Fipple, fipple flute, and may be mouth-operated, or powered by air pressure, steam, or other means. Whistles vary in size from a small slide whistle or nose flute type to a large multi-piped Organ (music), church organ. Whistles have been around since early humans first carved out a gourd or branch and found they could make sound with it. In prehistoric Egypt, small shells were used as whistles. Many present day Wind instrument, wind instruments are inheritors of these early whistles. With the rise of more mechanical power, other forms of whistles have been developed. One characteristic of a whistle is that it creates a pure, or nearly pure, Musical tone, tone. The conversion of flow energy to sound comes from an interaction between a solid material and a fluid stream. The forces in some whistles are sufficient to set the solid material in motion. Classic examples a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] [Amazon] |
Petal
Petals are modified leaves that form an inner whorl surrounding the reproductive parts of flowers. They are often brightly coloured or unusually shaped to attract pollinators. All of the petals of a flower are collectively known as the ''corolla''. Petals are usually surrounded by an outer whorl of modified leaves called sepals, that collectively form the ''calyx'' and lie just beneath the corolla. The calyx and the corolla together make up the perianth, the non-reproductive portion of a flower. When the petals and sepals of a flower are difficult to distinguish, they are collectively called tepals. Examples of plants in which the term ''tepal'' is appropriate include genera such as '' Aloe'' and '' Tulipa''. Conversely, genera such as '' Rosa'' and '' Phaseolus'' have well-distinguished sepals and petals. When the undifferentiated tepals resemble petals, they are referred to as "petaloid", as in petaloid monocots, orders of monocots with brightly coloured tepals. Since they ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] [Amazon] |
Hawaiian Lobelioids
The Hawaiian lobelioids are a group of flowering plants in the bellflower family, Campanulaceae, subfamily Lobelioideae, all of which are endemic to the Hawaiian Islands. This is the largest plant radiation in the Hawaiian Islands, and indeed the largest on any island archipelago, with over 125 species. The six genera involved can be broadly separated based on growth habit: ''Clermontia'' are typically branched shrubs or small trees, up to tall, with fleshy fruits; ''Cyanea'' and ''Delissea'' are typically unbranched or branching only at the base, with a cluster of relatively broad leaves at the apex and fleshy fruits; ''Lobelia'' and ''Trematolobelia'' have long thin leaves down a single, non-woody stem and capsular fruits with wind-dispersed seeds; and the peculiar ''Brighamia'' have a short, thick stem with a dense cluster of broad leaves, elongate white flowers, and capsular fruits. The relationships among the genera and sections remains unsettled . Many species have beauti ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] [Amazon] |
Metrosideros Polymorpha
''Metrosideros polymorpha'', the ''ōhia lehua'',; is a species of flowering evergreen tree in the Myrtus, myrtle family, Myrtaceae, that is Endemism, endemic to the six largest Hawaiian Islands, islands of Hawaii, Hawaii. It is a member of the diverse ''Metrosideros'' genus, which are widespread over the southwest Pacific. It is the state tree of Hawai'i. It is a highly variable tree, being tall in favorable situations, and a much smaller prostrate shrub when growing in Hawaiian tropical rainforests#Bogs, boggy soils or directly on basalt. It produces a brilliant display of flowers, made up of a mass of stamens, which can range from fiery red to yellow. Many native Hawaiian traditions refer to the tree and the forests it forms as sacred to Pele (deity), Pele, the volcano goddess, and to Laka, the goddess of hula. Ōhia trees grow easily on lava, and are usually the first plants to grow on new lava flows. ''Metrosideros polymorpha'' is commonly called a ''lehua'' tree, or an ' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] [Amazon] |
