The Limahuli Garden and Preserve is a and on the north shore of Kauai island, Hawaii. It is one of the five gardens of the nonprofit National Tropical Botanical Garden.
Description Limahuli lies within a tropical valley covering three distinct ecological zones. The Makana Mountain ridge looms behind, and the Limahuli Stream includes an waterfall on its descent from the valley's high end at to sea level just below the garden. Lima huli means "turned hand" in the Hawaiian language.
The garden contains a wide range of native and Polynesian-introduced plants, including kukui (Aleurites moluccana), banana, breadfruit, alula (Brighamia insignis), paper mulberry (Broussonetia papyrifera), papala (Charpentiera elliptica), kī (Cordyline fruticosa), turmeric (Curcuma domestica), hāhā (Cyanea hardyi), lama (Diospyros sandwicensis), vegetable fern (Diplazium esculentum), ginger, hau kuahiwi (Hibiscadelphus distans), hibiscus including kokio keokeo (Hibiscus waimeae), kava, koa (Acacia koa), nehe (Lipochaeta succulenta), ōhia lehua (Metrosideros polymorpha), pokulakalaka (Munroidendron racemosum), kului (Nototrichium divaricatum), hala (Pandanus tectorius), pāpala kēpau (Pisonia wagneriana), plumeria, loulu (Pritchardia limahuliensis), sugarcane, taro, and iliau (Wilkesia gymnoxiphium).
It includes taro terraces (loi kalo) that date to early Polynesian arrivals on the island.Limahuli Garden (brochure), by Nancy Merrill, Anna Stone, and Evelyn de Buhr, Limahuli Garden. These were part of an ancient ahupuaʻa, a sophisticated land-management and food-production system.
In 1997 the American Horticultural Society named Limahuli Garden the best natural botanical garden in the United States. In 2007, the Hawaii Tourism Authority gave it the top "Keep It Hawaii" award for its support of Hawaiian culture and protection and development of Hawaiian knowledge by preservation of natural resources through research, hands-on work, and educational opportunities.
Limahuli Garden is open to visitors. An admission fee is charged. The preserve area is not open to the public. It is inland from Haʻena State Park and Kee beach off Route 560 (near its western end) at . The preserve was established with donated by Juliet Rice Wichman in 1967 and extended by her grandson Charles "Chipper" Rice Wichman, who were descended from businessman William Hyde Rice and missionary William Harrison Rice. Mount Makana, which rises above Limahuli Valley, is sometimes called Bali Ha'i, a name used in the 1958 film South Pacific, which was filmed in the area.
Gallery
See also National Tropical Botanical Garden McBryde Garden Allerton Garden Kahanu Garden The Kampong List of botanical gardens in the United States
References
External links
National Tropical Botanical Garden