Today Mr. Seaman had me start off with some light weeding. He stationed me at an island with a "Swiss Cheese" Monstera.(Shown on cover.I fell in love with this plant. It is a vine with dark green, waxy leaves. The leaves have oval "holes" in them, thus the name "Swiss Cheese."
While weeding an elderly volunteer carrying palm fronds stopped to talk to me. (One of the palm people perhaps?) She started to explain to me why weeding was so important.
Indigenous Hawaiian plants, because of many centuries in isolation, lost a lot of defenses that their continental counterparts had. They lost poisons and the such because there were no animals to eat them then. Pigs and dogs were brought by the polynesians. Foreign plants can wreak havoc on the forest plants. Morning glory, for example, is a popular garden plant. But let loose in the wild and the vine climbs over tree trunks and treetops, killing plants that need sunlight. It inhibits the growth of the plant and creates a virtual blanket over the forest.
At about 9:30 Mr. Seaman informed me about a new job.We spent the rest of the morning at the Friends of the Library picking up tables for an upcoming plant sale. Mr. Seaman, on the ride told me that he was taking a Japanese class, which was the only class he needed to get his Bachelor's in English. But he was failing it and his wife was fluent in Japanese. "Go figure," he said.