Sometimes I tell myself that I shouldn't shoot invasive or otherwise troublesome plants. Don't give them publicity! But it was impossible to turn down this maile pilau blossom. Its name means "stink maile," maile being a sweet-smelling vine used to make leis. We keep trying to grow maile here, but it never takes. Its evil cousin, though, infests the gardenias, the honeysuckle, and gets into other areas we wish it wouldn't. It's a vine, and the only way to attack it is to take a tendril and try to work back to the base, which is always strongly-rooted.
It's a losing battle, frankly, but the blossoms are indeed beautiful. We're looking here at something that's perhaps half an inch in diameter. Notice the pollen grains that have spilled out onto the petals.