Tara Severns

Haha! Felis *catus* (cursed autocorrect)

A single, yellow-green new fern frond unrolls itself above a lush carpet of moss amidst sedge leaves.

Kupukupu — Sword Fern (Nephrolepis sp.). Waikahekaheiki, Puna, Hawaiʻi.

Two cats sit on a fallen tree trunk in the woods facing opposite directions. One is white with gray patches and the other is orange and white.

Domestic cats (Felis cactus), introduced. Waikahekaheiki, Puna, Hawaiʻi.

A vine with heart-shaped leaves and a yellow flower entwines with a spiral of razor wire on a fence in an industrial park.

Fence Morning-Glory (Ipomoea ochracea), introduced. Waiākea, Hilo, Hawaiʻi.

A small flower with four pale pink petals.

False Meadowbeauty (Pterolepis glomerata), introduced. Waikahekaheiki, Puna, Hawaii.

Backlit translucent, gelatinous, fan-shaped mushrooms on a dead tree branch in a forest.

Tetrapyrgos alba. Waikahekaheiki, Puna, Hawai‘i.

A plant forms a flat, low mat on the soil. It has fleshy green lobes that repeatedly fork, creating a small, coral-like rosette.

Crystalwort (Riccia sp.). Waiākea, Hilo, Hawaiʻi.

A vine growing on a chain link fence is covered in dark green leaves and hundreds of orange tube flowers.

Flame Vine (Pyrostegia venusta), introduced. Waikahekaheiki, Puna, Hawaiʻi.

A toad sits on rocky ground . It has red-brown, bumpy skin, a flat squat body, and yellow eyelids.

Cane Toad (Rhinella marina), introduced. Waikahekaheiki, Puna, Hawai‘i.

A rough, red orange fungus with a shiny, leather-like appearance growing as a crust on log.

A polypore fungus, likely the pan-tropical Earliella scabrosa. Waikahekaheiki, Puna, Hawai’i.

Overlapping palm fronds shaped like unfurled folded fans with contrasting colors and striking light and dark areas viewed from below against a blue sky.

Fiji Fan Palm (Pritchardia pacifica), introduced. Honolulu, O‘ahu, Hawai‘i.

A brown bird with a white throat, black-banded eyes, and a black beak on short grass. It has a seed in its beak.

House Sparrow (Passer domesticus), introduced. Honolulu, Oʻahu, Hawaiʻi.

A showy tropical flower with alternating, boat-shaped red orange bracts from which yellow-green tube flowers are splayed vertically.

Parrot’s Beak (Psittacorum x spathocircinata ‘Guyana’), introduced (cultivated). Honolulu, Oʻahu, Hawaiʻi.

Fern fronds snake down between two moss-covered tree trunks.

Sword Fern (Nephrolepis sp.). Waikahekaheiki, Puna, Hawai‘i.

A transluscent white jelly fungus with a ruffle-like form grows on a log.

Snow Fungus (Tremella fuciformis), cosmopolitan. Waikahekaheiki, Puna, Hawaiʻi.

A bright red leaf viewed on edge with multiple onion-domed yellow and brown galls visible on the upper and lower surfaces. It rests on a lush bed of a bright green, feathery, forked moss.

A leaf of the invasive strawberry guava (Psidium cattleianum) with galls formed by a scale insect (Tectococcus ovatus) introduced as a biocontrol. The leaf rests on a bed of moss, possibly an endemic Bazzania sp. Waikahekaheiki, Puna, Hawai‘i.

A silhouette of a hawk soaring above in a partly sunny sky.

ʻIo—Hawaiian Hawk (Buteo solitarius), endemic. Waikahekaheiki, Puna, Hawai‘i.

Niu—Coconut (Cocos nucifera), Maile Pilau (Paederia foetida), and Cook Pine (Araucaria columnaris), introduced. Waiākea, Hilo, Hawai’i. In stark black and white, a light-colored, dry palm tree frond hangs from a coniferous tree, and is climbed by a dark-leafed vine.

Niu—Coconut (Cocos nucifera), Maile Pilau (Paederia foetida), and Cook Pine (Araucaria columnaris), introduced. Waiākea, Hilo, Hawai’i.

A large, showy, bright red flower hangs from the end of a long branch. It has ruffled petals like a billowing Flamenco dancer’s skirt, and prominent orange-tipped red anthers.

(Hibiscus × rosa-sinensis), introduced (cultivated). Waikahekaheiki, Pua, Hawaii.

A dense vining plant with long, oval, opposite leaves.

Maile Pilau—Stink Vine (Paederia foetida), introduced. Waiākea, Hilo, Hawai’i.

A flower with fused petals, white on the outside and purple the center and with creases forming a five-pointed star. The bloom opens beneath hastate leaves, spear shaped with forward pointing lobes.

Sweet Potato (Ipomoea batatas), introduced (cultivated). Waikahekaheiki, Puna, Hawai‘i.

A translucent, gelatinous, fan-shaped mushroom on a dead tree branch.

Tetrapyrgos alba. Waikahekaheiki, Puna, Hawai‘i.

An open orchid with a pink column and orange petals next to a light green flower bud on a tall stalk.

Lady Tankerville's Swamp Orchid (Calanthe tankervilleae), introduced. Waikahekaheiki, Puna, Hawai‘i.

A large brown and purple moth rests on asphalt. It has two large spots like eyes on its wings.

Black Witch (Ascalapha odorata), introduced. Keonepoko Nui, Pāhoa, Puna, Hawaii.

A small, pink and white flower with two lips, four protruding stamens, and fine hairs on a long, loose flower spike.

Tulsi Basil (Ocimum gratissimum), introduced (cultivated). Waikahekaheiki,Puna, Hawai‘i.

An inflorescence of a sedge plant held against a hand. Each flower is a brown, vase-like capsule with stigma emerging from within at the top and stamen with long pale anthers emerging from the base.

Anglestem Beaksedge (Rhynchospora caduca), introduced. Waikahekaheiki, Puna, Hawai‘i.

Long narrow leaves radiate from the top of a tall stem. Dried flowers adorn the hub.

Umbrella Papyrus (Cyperus alternifolius), introduced. Waikahekaheiki, Puna, Hawai‘i.

Pinto Peanut (Arachis pintoi), introduced (cultivated). Waikahekaheiki, Puna, Hawai’i.

Pinto Peanut (Arachis pintoi), introduced (cultivated). Waikahekaheiki, Puna, Hawai‘i.

A plant with strap-like lancate leaves grows from black cinder.

ʻAhaniu (Machaerina mariscoides), indigenous. Waikahekaheiki, Puna, Hawaiʻi.

A fractally-forked fern covered in dew hovers above dense foliage.

Uluhe (Dicranopteris linearis), indigenous. Waikahekaheiki, Puna, Hawai’i.