mokihana travel

Kauai Island Lei Material: Mokihana Berry

Mokihana, also known as Pelea Anisata or Melicope Anisata, has been the official lei material of Kaua’i since 1988. The tree is native to Kaua’i, a Hawaiian island, and belongs to the genus Pelea (Melicope), named after the Hawaiian goddess of the volcano. Mokihana is a citrus tree that grows 6 to 25 feet tall in moist to wet forests from 1,200 to 4,000 feet elevation. Hawaiians use the leathery anise-scented fruit of mokihana to make leis, strung within a few hours of picking. Hawaiian women and men wear the mokihana leis, and traditionally natives used the anise-scented twigs and berries as perfume (Source:  Hawaii.gov )

Genus Melicope

Melicope anisata, or Mokihana, is one species of Melicope found in Hawaii. It is the official lei material of the Island of Kauai.

The genus Melicope is an evergreen shrub or tree with around 240 species. It has evolved in many places, from the Hawaiian islands to other parts of the Pacific, Asia, Australia, and New Zealand.

The leaves of these plants arrange in pairs, sometimes in whorls, and are either trifoliate or simple. They produce flowers in panicles, which can be bisexual, male-only, or female-only. Each flower contains four sepals, four petals, and four or eight stamens.

When the flower matures, it transforms into a fruit made up of up to four follicles with one or two seeds each, which is the final stage of the plant’s lifecycle before it drops its seeds and starts the process again.

The Melicope was first described formally by Johann Reinhold and Georg Forster in 1775, and they gave it the name after Greek words meaning “honey” and “a division.”

Scientists and biologists discovered various genera and species, which were later nested into the Melicope genus.

The Melicope’s ecology is fascinating, as it is a food plant for many animals, such as Ulysses butterfly caterpillars and Thyrocopa moth larvae often live in Melicope ecosystems. Some species, like wharangi, are unsafe for humans due to their nectar-yielding toxic honey.

Regarding conservation, a few Hawaiian species are endangered due to habitat loss and competition from non-native plants. Sadly, some have already gone extinct (Source:  Wikipedia )

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Claudia Looi

Touring the Top 10 Moscow Metro Stations

By Claudia Looi 2 Comments

Komsomolskaya metro station looks like a museum. It has vaulted ceilings and baroque decor.

Hidden underground, in the heart of Moscow, are historical and architectural treasures of Russia. These are Soviet-era creations – the metro stations of Moscow.

Our guide Maria introduced these elaborate metro stations as “the palaces for the people.” Built between 1937 and 1955, each station holds its own history and stories. Stalin had the idea of building beautiful underground spaces that the masses could enjoy. They would look like museums, art centers, concert halls, palaces and churches. Each would have a different theme. None would be alike.

The two-hour private tour was with a former Intourist tour guide named Maria. Maria lived in Moscow all her life and through the communist era of 60s to 90s. She has been a tour guide for more than 30 years. Being in her 60s, she moved rather quickly for her age. We traveled and crammed with Maria and other Muscovites on the metro to visit 10 different metro stations.

Arrow showing the direction of metro line 1 and 2

Moscow subways are very clean

To Maria, every street, metro and building told a story. I couldn’t keep up with her stories. I don’t remember most of what she said because I was just thrilled being in Moscow.   Added to that, she spilled out so many Russian words and names, which to one who can’t read Cyrillic, sounded so foreign and could be easily forgotten.

The metro tour was the first part of our all day tour of Moscow with Maria. Here are the stations we visited:

1. Komsomolskaya Metro Station  is the most beautiful of them all. Painted yellow and decorated with chandeliers, gold leaves and semi precious stones, the station looks like a stately museum. And possibly decorated like a palace. I saw Komsomolskaya first, before the rest of the stations upon arrival in Moscow by train from St. Petersburg.

2. Revolution Square Metro Station (Ploshchad Revolyutsii) has marble arches and 72 bronze sculptures designed by Alexey Dushkin. The marble arches are flanked by the bronze sculptures. If you look closely you will see passersby touching the bronze dog's nose. Legend has it that good luck comes to those who touch the dog's nose.

Touch the dog's nose for good luck. At the Revolution Square station

Revolution Square Metro Station

3. Arbatskaya Metro Station served as a shelter during the Soviet-era. It is one of the largest and the deepest metro stations in Moscow.

Arbatskaya Metro Station

4. Biblioteka Imeni Lenina Metro Station was built in 1935 and named after the Russian State Library. It is located near the library and has a big mosaic portrait of Lenin and yellow ceramic tiles on the track walls.

Lenin's portrait at the Biblioteka Imeni Lenina Metro Station

5. Kievskaya Metro Station was one of the first to be completed in Moscow. Named after the capital city of Ukraine by Kiev-born, Nikita Khruschev, Stalin's successor.

Kievskaya Metro Station

6. Novoslobodskaya Metro Station  was built in 1952. It has 32 stained glass murals with brass borders.

Novoslobodskaya metro station

7. Kurskaya Metro Station was one of the first few to be built in Moscow in 1938. It has ceiling panels and artwork showing Soviet leadership, Soviet lifestyle and political power. It has a dome with patriotic slogans decorated with red stars representing the Soviet's World War II Hall of Fame. Kurskaya Metro Station is a must-visit station in Moscow.

Ceiling panel and artworks at Kurskaya Metro Station

8. Mayakovskaya Metro Station built in 1938. It was named after Russian poet Vladmir Mayakovsky. This is one of the most beautiful metro stations in the world with 34 mosaics painted by Alexander Deyneka.

Mayakovskaya station

One of the over 30 ceiling mosaics in Mayakovskaya metro station

9. Belorusskaya Metro Station is named after the people of Belarus. In the picture below, there are statues of 3 members of the Partisan Resistance in Belarus during World War II. The statues were sculpted by Sergei Orlov, S. Rabinovich and I. Slonim.

10. Teatralnaya Metro Station (Theatre Metro Station) is located near the Bolshoi Theatre.

Teatralnaya Metro Station decorated with porcelain figures .

Taking the metro's escalator at the end of the tour with Maria the tour guide.

Have you visited the Moscow Metro? Leave your comment below.

January 15, 2017 at 8:17 am

An excellent read! Thanks for much for sharing the Russian metro system with us. We're heading to Moscow in April and exploring the metro stations were on our list and after reading your post, I'm even more excited to go visit them. Thanks again 🙂

December 6, 2017 at 10:45 pm

Hi, do you remember which tour company you contacted for this tour?

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