I thought the flowers in yesterday's post were all I had to show off.  Today I discovered this on my Surinam Cherry (Eugenia uniflora).  It's less than a half inch (12mm) across and very fragile.  That's a second flower bud center left.

Scientists who study the human eye say we can't perceive both red and green at the same time.  They say the cones that determine color in the eye see red and green on the same sliding scale.  So if the eye sees red, it sees "not green" at the same time.  If it sees green, it sees "not red".  Both together are supposed to result in a muddy brown.  Yet I see both red and green mixed together in young Surinam Cherry leaves.  How about you?  Is the young leaf both red and green or just brown to you?  Maybe the colors don't translate well onto the computer screen....

I don't allow insects (other than a few spiders) to survive very long in my sunroom.  I don't see many (any) pollinators left.  If anyone has a suggestion on how to hand pollinate these flowers, please post.  I'm going to try using a cotton swab on this one.  Wish me luck.

I raised this plant from the only healthy Surinam Cherry seed I found in Hawaii, well up in the western mountains of Maui.  There are both red-fruited and black-fruited cultivars.  The reds are supposed to be more tart, the blacks more sweet.  This came from a red fruit, but that's all I know.

If you want to bring seeds from Hawaii to the mainland, you need a box that can be taped shut, a roll of tape, and I'd suggest, plastic bags.  Gently scrub all the fruit/pulp off your seeds and let them dry.  Make sure no bugs or worms have bored into your seeds.  Put your seeds in the plastic bags and seal them.  Write on the bag the species of plant seeds it contains.  Before you fly home, drop by the Hawaii Department of Agriculture office to have them inspected.  It's cost free.  They will inspect your seeds, put them in the box, seal it, and put their official stamp on the outside. 

Once it's inspected, you can either mail it home or take it with you.  If you mail it, consider the temperature of the places it must travel to the destination.  Many tropical seeds can't stand cold, much less frost.  If you take the box with you, you will have to present the box separately at the airport to have it X-rayed.  (Most of my seeds survived the trip through the nuclear chamber just fine.)  Keep the box sealed until you get home.

If you want to bring home live plants, the easiest way is to buy them from a licensed greenhouse and arrange to have them shipped home after you fly out.  The second easiest is to buy one of the pre-packaged, pre-inspected plants from one of the many kiosks on every island (well, every island we visited, anyway).  These get X-rayed at the airport, too.  Leave them sealed in the plastic with the Hawaii Department of Agriculture stamp intact until you get home.