Got family visiting? Do the grandparents want to see tropical plants while the grandchildren want to go to the zoo? Do relatives from the mainland want to know what that tree ... that flower ... that vine is?

There's a solution you might not have thought of in the heart of Waikiki, the Honolulu Zoo.

If you've not visited the zoo in a long, looong time, you might not have noticed, but those beautiful plants that create the appropriate habitat for each animal are not just decorative. They're educational.

Look closer and you will find a plant label telling you the common name, scientific name and country of origin for many of the plantings. You'll see that many of the plants are coordinated with their country of origin. And if you're trying to learn about just native Hawaiian plants, you'll see an abundance of them, accompanied by labels giving the Hawaiian name—as well as the recorded traditional uses of those plants.

Chaminade University botany student Brenda Loo visited the zoo in November for an independent lab assignment and noted a side of the zoo she had never experienced before.

“;Prior to this botany class, the plants were merely natural shade providers and nothing more to me. Now that I return to the zoo with 'new educated eyes,' I have come to appreciate and see more of the effort put into the plants which were purposefully planted for visitors to see.”;

She found a red kapok, the type of tree under which the Buddha is said to have been born (yes, a sign told her); our native endemic ohia lehua with its beautiful red flowers that attract honeycreepers in high-elevation rain forests and also thrive in lava fields and dry forests; a raspberry ginger plant bred by a local schoolteacher (Janet Kimi Ginoza); an elephant ear plant that plays a role in a Hawaiian legend about the trickster demigod, Maui; the paper mulberry (wauke) that the Hawaiians used to produce fine kapa cloth.

The pua kenikeni (”;10-cent flower”;) also caught her attention with its arresting aromatic flowers.

Many of the native plants on Loo's list were added to the collection of zoo plants more than a decade ago by Honolulu horticulturist Heidi Bornhorst, who is known for her passion for native plants. The plants have had time to thrive and spread out over the years and add to the educational value of a visit to the zoo.

So if you find yourself with a house full of visitors with varying interests, drive down to Waikiki. If the on-again/off-again blue skies give way to serious rain by the time you've found a place to park, duck into the incredible Waikiki Aquarium and see coral-reef inhabitants you've never been able to identify and learn about their diverse shared parenting habits. Learn more about Hawaii's monk seals and turtles, and browse the gift shop for unique ocean-inspired crafts and a collection of books focused on the ocean you might not find elsewhere.

Enjoy the Waikiki you've not had time to see in quite a while and, perhaps, have a picnic under the trees, if the rain clouds head back to sea.

And when it looks like the heaviest rain is over, head to the zoo. For even if the drizzling continues, there are enough trees with long-established canopies for shelter.

Pick up event brochures at the aquarium and zoo while you're in the area. Once you've reacquainted yourselves with the old and the new in this part of Waikiki, you'll be wanting to return for the aquarium's summer Hawaiian music concerts at sunset, the annual coral-spawning event later in the year and special events at the zoo. (Have you been to the zoo at night? It's an entirely different experience of sights and sounds and darkness.)

For information on either of these special places:

» Waikiki Aquarium: 2777 Kalakaua Ave., 923-9741; www.waquarium.org.

» Honolulu Zoo: 151 Kapahulu Ave., 926-7171; www.honoluluzoo.org.