Cup of Gold Vine

Solandra Maxima

If you live in San Diego and know Balboa Park, you’ve probably come across this odd, oversized flower covering all of the porch and most of the roof of a small house to the east of Spanish Village.  Indigenous to Mexico and Central American, the Cup of Gold Vine, also known as Golden Chalice Vine, or Hawaiian Lily, is bursting into bloom in San Diego.  I don’t know how it became known as Hawaiian Lily.  It’s a photographic challenge.  In full sun the glossy leaves reflect too much light.  I’ll remind myself to go back on a cloudy day or early in the morning or late in the day to see if I get a better picture in lower light. Photographed in living color, the image is almost cloying, so I shot it today in black and white.  In black and white it’s more regal, almost ethereal.