What is the ‘Ohi‘a Lehua?

Red and Yellow ‘Ohi‘a Lehua

I was just sitting here in front of the computer and wondering …what should I do for my blog this week…and the first thing that popped into my mind was the ‘Ohi‘a Lehua so that’s what I’m going to do.

The ‘Ohi‘a Lehua is one of the most common trees here in Hawaii and its flowers comes in a variety of different colors including red, yellow, and even a salmon color (which is rare). The ‘Ohi‘a usually refers to the tree itself and the Lehua is usually referred to the flower of the tree. However, Lehua can be used to reference both the tree and the flower. The red Lehua is the most common color found and is the official flower of the Big Island. The size of the Lehua tree ranges from small 1 – 2 ft. shrubs to about 60 ft. tall. The leaves on the Lehua trees are usually rounded and stiff and some are also fuzzy or hairy. They grow from sea level till about 9,000 feet in elevation and prefers to grow in wetter areas, but can prevail in almost any habitat. For example, it can populate a whole lava field in about one hundred years.

It is known in myth that picking an ‘Ohi‘a Lehua blossom will cause it to rain and in the traditional Hawaiian days it was used during a variety of medicinal preparations.

Scientific Classification

Kingdom: Plantae
Division: Magnoliophyta
Class: Magnoliopsida
Order: Myrtales
Family: Myrtaceae
Genus: Metrosideros
Species: M. polymorpha

Why is Pluto not considered to be a planet?

(Picture: Pluto and moon Charon)

During our teaching sessions on Thursday two of the people in our group did lessons on the planets in our solar system. Then came the question why is Pluto not a planet anymore? Therefore, I have decided to use that question for my blog this week and this is what I found according to National Geographic News:
Pluto is no longer considered to be a planet anymore because it does not fit the new definition of what a planet is, even though the word planet never really had an official definition before. The new definition of a planet is “a full-fledged planet is an object that orbits the sun and is large enough to have become round due to the force of its own gravity. In addition, a planet has to dominate the neighborhood around its orbit.” (National Geographic News). In addition to not meeting the requirement of the new definition Pluto also does not dominate it’s neighborhood or in other words is not much larger than its large moon, Charon, like all the other planets and also unlike the other planets Pluto does not keep its area clean. A planet that dominates its neighborhood tends to keep it

clean by picking up or sweeping up comets, asteroids, and other debris to clear the path within their orbits. Pluto is now in a new classification and considered to be a dwarf planet along with 44 others.

Why do animals eat their poop?

Fly
I know it’s gross, but while watching Emergency vets again this past weekend they did another episode on the strange things that animals eat and time after time they mentioned that some animals even eat their own poop. So for my blog this week I decided to find out why animals eat their poop.
According to animal poop animals actually eat their poop on a regular basis. The animals that they included are rabbits, rodents, gorillas, dung beetles, flies, and dogs. The reason that herbivores such as the rabbits and rodents eat their own poop is because their plant diet is hard to digest so the poop helps it to digest better. Dogs and flies eat their poop because it has protein in it which is good for the animals. Dogs especially likes cat poop because it has a higher level of protein in it. In general animals eat their poop because the poop contains vitamins that are produced by their intestinal bacteria and are unable to absorb them through the intestinal was so they obtain them by eating the poop.
Thank you for your interest in reading my blog. I know that it is very gross (even I had a hard time with it) but it was also interesting because I always scolded our dogs for even trying to eat their poop.

Rabbit

Why is chocolate bad for dogs?

Sick Dog
Have you ever heard that dogs can get sick and even die from chocolate? Well I have and I had no idea that chocolate could have such a negative effect on dogs. Therefore, I have decided to explore the facts on why dogs cannot eat chocolate.

While dogs really enjoy the taste of chocolate it can result in devastating effects for your dog such as death. In chocolate there is a stimulant called theobromine that is in most chocolate that is harmful to dogs and even horses. Theobromine is a stimulant that is found in the cocoa plant and has a larger amount in baker’s chocolate than in milk chocolate. The symptoms a dog will have if it has eaten too much chocolate are crying, vomiting, and diarrhea. Now you might think well how can my dog die from those symptoms? Well, actually those are warning symptoms for you to take your dog immediately to the vet. The reason being is that if the theobromine is left in the dog’s system too long it will get absorbed into the bloodstream and then into the heart. When the theobromine reaches the heart it will cause the dog’s heart to beat extremely fast and then give out which causes the dog to die. Other symptoms to watch out for are disproportionate urination, muscle twitching, and excessive panting. The amount of lethal chocolate varies for each dog depending on age, dog’s health, size, and the type of chocolate.

What are the facts of plumeria's?

Growing up in Hawai'i I've always been surrounded by the beautiful Plumeria trees. I've grown to love these flowers and made them my favorite type of flowers. Plumeria flowers offers great beauty and a lovely fragrance and I want to go beyond that and find out more facts about these flowers.

Pink and Yellow

Scientific Classification:

• Kingdom: Plantae



• Division: Magnoliophyta



• Class: Magnoliopsida



• Order: Gentianales



• Family: Apocynaceae



• Genus: Plumeria

Dark Red/Maroon (My Favorite)

Features

• Usually has 5 petals (may have more or less depending on type)
  


• Colors vary from a dark purple through the reds, pinks, white, and yellow
  


• Plumerias also vary from a solid color to being multi colored
  


• Has a very soft velvety like feel to the petals and also very thick
  


• Can last one to two days on the ground after falling off the tree
  
  Pretty in pink
  
  
  

History

• Native to the forests of southern Mexico and south into Panama



• Used by Indians for medical purposes that ranged from poultices to emetics



• Became a favorite to the Spanish who then planted them near their churches, cemeteries, and monasteries.



• The Spanish also took the plumeria flowers with them on their travels which is why we have them here in Hawaii.
  

Purple.......interesting

Plumerias in Hawaii

• Used for making leis due to its beautiful fragrance and durability



• Other uses include decoration (including in ear and/or hair) and also for fragrance



• Prefers sunshine rather than moisture resulting in more frequent blooming in Kona rather than Hilo.



• Seasonal Plant therefore its drops its leaves at a certain time of the year depending on the weather in its environment

Plumeria Lei

Why do dogs eat grass?

The other day while walking my dog I noticed that she started to eat the grass as we were walking through the yard. So I tried o stop her but she would jus look and me and continue eating it. So later that night I decided to do some research on the Internet to find a reason for her behavior. According to Dogs eat Grass I found that there are a number of different reasons. The first reason is that it it’s a normal part of their diet because wild canines related to dogs such as wolves and foxes eats other animals that contains grass in their intestines which they end up eating. Therefore, because domestic dogs eats prepared dog food they lack the grass so they make up for it by eating grass. The second reason that they might eat grass is because they have an upset stomach. The grass helps their upset stomach by binding all the poisonous material in their stomach then the grass irritates the dog which induces vomiting and rids the dogs stomach of the poisonous material. The last reason is to determine if there has been any other animal has entered their yard. In this case the dogs only appear to be eating the grass but instead they are only running the blades of the grass through their mouths and using their sense of smell and taste to determine the presence of other animal scents. Picture from dog eating grass.

Are American Pit Bull Terriers (APBT) bred to be violent towards humans?

NO! In the news and all over the Internet there are reports of APBT’s mauling and seriously injuring or killing someone. This is in fact true however, as said by APBT these dogs were never bred to harm humans. Yes, naturally they are aggressive to other dogs but to humans they are very loving and nurturing. Pit bulls naturally crave lots of love and attention from humans. Violence in these animals are caused by poor care and training by the owner. Before deciding to get a pit bull as a pet the owner should:

· Know general facts about the care and breed of the dog

· Be willing to show lots of care and attention

· Be able to properly train, supervise, and notice symptoms of aggression

Picture from: Happy Pit Bull