Post #577350 by bigbrotiki on Wed, Feb 23, 2011 5:03 AM

I would say the Hibiscus, somewhat, because it has adorned so many Aloha shirts.
But flowers are really more of a Hawaiiana icon, Tiki culture only uses flowers as drink garnish :) :

Not exactly "most recognizable", but more obscure, and not a flower but a plant:
I was thrilled to recently discover a tropical perennial who was obviously named for the fact that its leaves resemble a primitive modern mask in a most abstract form - the "African Mask":

One can see the likeness of different tribal mask designs in the shape and lines of its leaf:

I was convinced I had seen a mask design somewhere even closer than the above, but could not pin it down.

It would be interesting to find out about the genesis of the name of this plant - who named it and when.