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Sublime Beauty: Hawai'i's Trees
Wageman, Jim
320 pages, Hardcover
First published October 1, 2008
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
September 2, 2019
Beautiful book on Hawaiian trees
In his Introduction Wageman writes, “…at heart this book is simply a celebration of the beauty of Hawai’i’s trees.” And that it is. The splendid photography of the trees is enhanced by the 12 by 8 inch size of the book. Yes, a coffee table book meant not for erudition or for identifying the trees, but for casual, relaxed appreciation.
The book is in three main parts: Endemic and indigenous trees, Polynesian-introduced trees, and Post-contact trees. There’s a selected bibliography and an index giving the Hawaiian, English and scientific names of the trees. The book is by no means comprehensive. Some introduced plants that are common elsewhere are not presented. The emphasis is on trees that are impressive in some way, either because of their beauty, majesty or economic or traditional importance.
I was a bit fuzzy about the difference between “endemic” and “indigenous.” So I looked up the definitions on the Web. According to the National Geography Style Manual “endemic” means occurring nowhere else. “Indigenous” means native (not brought in from somewhere else) though the plant or animal may occur elsewhere. “Native” implies birth or origin in a particular place.
Another word used in this book that left me a bit puzzled was “calabash.” The word in English usually refers to a gourd, but in Hawaii it refers to
(1) a tree, the calabash (Crescentia cujete), la’amia in Hawaiian, and its fruit
(2) A carved wooden bowl
(3) Kids you grew up with who came from the same neighborhood, the same calabash, the same pot, who are called “calabash cousins.” (I got this from a Frontline interview with Kristen Caldwell who identified Barack Obama as a calabash cousin of hers.)
--Dennis Littrell, author of “Yoga: Sacred and Profane (Beyond Hatha Yoga)”
In his Introduction Wageman writes, “…at heart this book is simply a celebration of the beauty of Hawai’i’s trees.” And that it is. The splendid photography of the trees is enhanced by the 12 by 8 inch size of the book. Yes, a coffee table book meant not for erudition or for identifying the trees, but for casual, relaxed appreciation.
The book is in three main parts: Endemic and indigenous trees, Polynesian-introduced trees, and Post-contact trees. There’s a selected bibliography and an index giving the Hawaiian, English and scientific names of the trees. The book is by no means comprehensive. Some introduced plants that are common elsewhere are not presented. The emphasis is on trees that are impressive in some way, either because of their beauty, majesty or economic or traditional importance.
I was a bit fuzzy about the difference between “endemic” and “indigenous.” So I looked up the definitions on the Web. According to the National Geography Style Manual “endemic” means occurring nowhere else. “Indigenous” means native (not brought in from somewhere else) though the plant or animal may occur elsewhere. “Native” implies birth or origin in a particular place.
Another word used in this book that left me a bit puzzled was “calabash.” The word in English usually refers to a gourd, but in Hawaii it refers to
(1) a tree, the calabash (Crescentia cujete), la’amia in Hawaiian, and its fruit
(2) A carved wooden bowl
(3) Kids you grew up with who came from the same neighborhood, the same calabash, the same pot, who are called “calabash cousins.” (I got this from a Frontline interview with Kristen Caldwell who identified Barack Obama as a calabash cousin of hers.)
--Dennis Littrell, author of “Yoga: Sacred and Profane (Beyond Hatha Yoga)”
December 16, 2020
Do you miss gazing up into giant monkeypod and koa trees? The smell of puakenikeni? Or the vibrant color of achiote? The beautiful imagery in this book helps fill the void. You can purchase from Bishop Museum's online store to help out a local institution.
February 7, 2010
The book fulfills its stated goal, which is to provide amazing images of trees without a lot of commentary. It does have some brief but good commentary on each tree, and the book is informatively arranged into indigenous trees, tress that came with the Polynesian settlers, and trees that came more recently.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews