These lovely flowers are native to this island. The native Iiwi bird's beak is shaped perfectly to polinate them. Unfortunately, this one will not be able to be pollinated by an Iiwi. Iiwi birds can only survive at a much higher elevation than here because mosquitoes carrying bird pox live here. The Iiwi birds had to move higher where it is too cold for the disease-carrying mosquito to survive.
So -- I'm going to enjoy this flower as long as I can and keep my carbon footprint small so the warmer global temeratures don't allow the mosquito to go higher still and kill the rest of the Iiwi.
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