Naupaka (Scaevola sencea) is one of Hawaii’s most common beach plants. The flower resembles a half-flower, with petals missing, and early Hawaiian legend claimed it was the incarnation of a princess separated from her lover. The legend goes something like this: A beautiful Hawaiian princess called Naupaka was very sad because she had fallen in love with a common man named Kaui and, according to tradition, it was forbidden for members of royalty to marry those who were not of noble birth. Distressed, Naupaka and Kaui traveled far away, up a mountain to see a kahuna but he had no solution for the young lovers other than to pray. As the lovers prayed to the gods, rain began to fall and they embraced for a final time. Naupaka took a flower from her ear and tore it in half, giving one half to Kaui and telling him that since the gods would not permit them to be together, he should live down by the water, and she would stay in the mountains. As the lovers separated, the naupaka plants that grew nearby saw how sad they were and from then on, they began to bloom in only half flowers.
There seem to be several legends regarding plants and lovers in Hawaii…see my other posting of the bright red bottle-brush flower “Lehua – read about the legend” if curious about another story 🙂

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Bit of an abstract close-up of Cauldron falls,
Rannoch Moor,Scotland.

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