National Tropical Botanical Garden / McBryde and Allerton Gardens, Lawai

Developed about 20 years ago, the Botanical Garden is combined with a research station for tropical plants. It is the only garden of its type in the U.S. and is recognized, according to a charter of the U.S. Congress, as a public institution. However, it is funded privately. The Botanical Garden can only be visited as part of a tour, part of which is undertaken by vehicle. As a result, no more than 15 people can join the tour at any one time. It is imperative to book a day ahead of a planned visit.The long, narrow garden, which covers just under 1/2sq.mile/1sq.km, stretches to the Pacific. The Lawai, a small river, bisects the garden. As both endangered and useful tropical plants are grown here, there are a considerable number of plant varieties on view. Only part of the extensive selection can be mentioned here - about 800 types of palm; about 60 different banana plants; coconut trees, a large number of ginger bushes with different colored flowers; herbs such as cardamom from Southern India; cloves from the Spice Islands; Jamaican pepper and other spices; native bread fruit trees; Java plums; the similarly native taro and countless tropical flowers with anthuria. Above all, the garden includes water lilies with their large, round leaves, one of which, it is claimed, could bear the weight of a small child - namely the Victoria Amazonica from Brazil.Leaving the Botanical Garden the visitor enters the Allerton Garden, begun by Chicago baker Robert Allerton and developed further by his son, Gregg Allerton. This land originally belonged to Queen Emma, the wife of King Kamehameha IV, whose summer house still remains today.