The pineapple is a tropical plant with an edible fruit; it is the most economically significant plant in the family Bromeliaceae. The pineapple is indigenous to South America, where it has been cultivated for many centuries. The introduction of the pineapple to Europe in the 17th century made it a significant cultural icon of luxury. Since the 1820s, pineapple has been commercially grown in greenhouses and many tropical plantations.
Guava is a common tropical fruit cultivated in many tropical and subtropical regions. The common guava Psidium guajava is a small tree in the myrtle family (Myrtaceae), native to Mexico, Central America, the Caribbean and northern South America. The name guava is also given to some other species in the genus Psidium such as strawberry guava and to the pineapple guava, Feijoa sellowiana. In 2019, 55 million tonnes of guavas were produced worldwide, led by India with 45% of the total. Botanically, guavas are berries.
The cuisine of Hawaii incorporates five distinct styles of food, reflecting the diverse food history of settlement and immigration in the Hawaiian Islands.
Sugarcane smut is a fungal disease of sugarcane caused by the fungus Sporisorium scitamineum. The disease is known as culmicolous, which describes the outgrowth of fungus of the stalk on the cane. It attacks several sugarcane species and has been reported to occur on a few other grass species as well, but not to a critical amount. The most recognizable characteristic of this disease is a black or gray growth that is referred to as a "smut whip". Resistance to sugarcane smut is the best course of action for management, but also the use of disease free seed is important. On smaller scale operations treatments using hot water and removing infected plants can be effective. The main mode of spore dispersal is the wind but the disease also spreads through the use of infected cuttings. Sugarcane smut is a devastating disease in sugarcane growing areas globally.
Metrosideros polymorpha, the ʻōhiʻa lehua, is a species of flowering evergreen tree in the myrtle family, Myrtaceae, that is endemic to the six largest islands of Hawaiʻi. It is a highly variable tree, being 20–25 m (66–82 ft) tall in favorable situations, and a much smaller prostrate shrub when growing in boggy soils or directly on basalt. It produces a brilliant display of flowers, made up of a mass of stamens, which can range from fiery red to yellow. Many native Hawaiian traditions refer to the tree and the forests it forms as sacred to Pele, the volcano goddess, and to Laka, the goddess of hula. ʻŌhiʻa trees grow easily on lava, and are usually the first plants to grow on new lava flows.
The evening bat is a species of bat in the vesper bat family that is native to North America. Hunting at night, they eat beetles, moths, and other flying insects.
Ceratocystis fimbriata is a fungus and a plant pathogen, attacking such diverse plants as the sweet potato and the tapping panels of the Para rubber tree. It is a diverse species that attacks a wide variety of annual and perennial plants. There are several host-specialized strains, some of which, such as Ceratocystis platani that attacks plane trees, are now described as distinct species.
Ceratocystis paradoxa or Black Rot of Pineapple is a plant pathogen that is a fungus, part of the phylum Ascomycota. It is characterized as the teleomorph or sexual reproduction stage of infection. This stage contains ascocarps, or sacs/fruiting bodies, which contain the sexually produced inoculating ascospores. These are the structures which are used primarily to survive long periods of time or overwinter to prepare for the next growing season of its host. Unfortunately, the sexual stage is not often seen in the natural field but instead the anamorph, or asexual stage is more commonly seen. This asexual stage name is Thielaviopsis paradoxa and is the common cause of Black rot or stem-end rot of its hosts.
Sugarcane or sugar cane is a species of tall, perennial grass that is used for sugar production. The plants are 2–6 m (6–20 ft) tall with stout, jointed, fibrous stalks that are rich in sucrose, which accumulates in the stalk internodes. Sugarcanes belong to the grass family, Poaceae, an economically important flowering plant family that includes maize, wheat, rice, and sorghum, and many forage crops. It is native to the warm temperate and tropical regions of India, Southeast Asia, and New Guinea. The plant is also grown for biofuel production, especially in Brazil, as the canes can be used directly to produce ethyl alcohol (ethanol).
Hawaii is one of the few U.S. states where coffee production is a significant economic industry—coffee is the second largest crop produced there. The 2019-2020 coffee harvest in Hawaii was valued at $102.91million. As of the 2019-2020 harvest, coffee production in Hawaii accounted for 6,900 acres of land
Ceratocystis is a genus of fungi in the family Ceratocystidaceae. Several species are important plant pathogens, causing diseases such as oak wilt and pineapple black rot.
Saccharum officinarum is a large, strong-growing species of grass in the genus Saccharum. Its stout stalks are rich in sucrose, a simple sugar which accumulates in the stalk internodes. It originated in New Guinea, and is now cultivated in tropical and subtropical countries worldwide for the production of sugar, ethanol and other products.
Pineapple black rot, also known as butt rot, base rot, or white blister, is a disease caused by Ceratocystis paradoxa (teleomorph). C. paradoxa also causes disease in a variety of other tropical plants such as banana, coconut, and sugarcane making it a somewhat dangerous pathogen. Pineapple black rot is the most common and well-known post-harvest disease of the pineapple fruit and is responsible for serious losses in the fresh pineapple fruit world industry. The pathogen is a polyphagous wound parasite and gains entry into the fruit via wounds sustained during and after harvest. The disease only shows up in fresh fruit because the time from harvest to processing it too short for infection occur. Infection can also occur out in the field, but it is not nearly as common as post-harvest infection.
Acmaeoderoides humeralis is a species of metallic wood-boring beetle in the family Buprestidae. It is found in North America.
Phobetus humeralis is a species of scarab beetle in the family Scarabaeidae. It is found in North America.
Epitrix humeralis is a species of flea beetle in the family Chrysomelidae. It is found in North America.
Anisotoma humeralis is a species of round fungus beetle in the family Leiodidae. It is found in Europe and Northern Asia and North America.
Urophorus is a genus of sap-feeding beetles in the family Nitidulidae. There are at least two described species in Urophorus.
Cryptognatha nodiceps, known generally as the coconut scale predator or sugarcane scale predator, is a species of lady beetle in the family Coccinellidae; it is found in the Caribbean region, North America, and Oceania, having been introduced to various countries in an attempt to provide biological pest control of the coconut scale.
Rapid ʻŌhiʻa Death (ROD) is a fungal disease that is rapidly killing forests of ʻōhiʻa —an ecologically important native tree species within the Hawaiian Islands that has provided a plethora of habitats for endangered birds and other species. Initially reported by landowners in Puna in 2010, ROD spread quickly across tens of thousands of acres of ʻŌhiʻa trees on the Hawaiian Islands. To date, hundreds of thousands of these trees have died from this fungal disease alone. Previously healthy Ōhiʻa trees have been observed to die within a few days to weeks, which is why the disease is known as "Rapid Ōhiʻa Death". In April 2018, the cause of Rapid ʻŌhiʻa Death was identified as two fungal species within the genus Ceratocystis which were previously unknown to science: Ceratocystis Huliohia and Ceratocystis Lukuohia. By May 2018, infected ʻōhiʻa trees were found on the island of Kauai, prompting requests that members of the public limit transportation of ʻōhiʻa products within the island. The less aggressive of the two fungus species, C. huliohia, has been confirmed on Hawaii Island, Kauai, Maui, and Oahu. According to experts, the fungus is likely to have been carried between the islands by tourists, on their shoes or hiking boots, but it can also be transmitted by dirty tools, animals or via the wind. Currently, there is no cure for the infected ʻŌhiʻa trees; ways to prevent the disease from spreading to other trees is through avoiding transmitting any parts of the tree to other ʻŌhiʻa's, removing soil debris from shoes, other gear, and tools. In order to fight back against the spread of this disease and to educate citizens on what the disease is, scientists and government officials have created a "ROD Strategic Response Plan," which outlines topics such as what the disease is, how it spreads, and how to prevent it from spreading.
