Cyanea kuhihewa

Cyanea kuhihewa is a rare and possibly extinct in the wild species of flowering plant in the bellflower family known by the common name Limahuli Valley cyanea. It is endemic to Kauai, where the last individuals in the only known population have died.[1] Like other Cyanea it is known as haha in Hawaiian.[2]

Cyanea kuhihewa

Critically Imperiled  (NatureServe)[1]
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Asterids
Order: Asterales
Family: Campanulaceae
Genus: Cyanea
Species:
C. kuhihewa
Binomial name
Cyanea kuhihewa
Lammers

This Hawaiian lobelioid is a "treelet" growing 30 centimeters to over 2 meters in height. The narrow linear leaves are up to 38 centimeters long by 1.5 wide. The inflorescence is a raceme of purple-pink flowers.[1]

When the plant was discovered it was initially thought to be Cyanea linearifolia, an extinct species, and the discovery was broadcast and celebrated.[3] Upon closer examination the plant proved to be quite different from C. linearifolia and was determined to be a new species. It was given the name Cyanea kuhihewa in 1996. The species name kuhihewa is a Hawaiian verb that means "to make an error of judgment, to mistake someone for someone else, to not recognize someone when you first see him".[4]

The type specimen of the plant was collected in 1991, and the following year the habitat was seriously damaged by Hurricane Iniki. Since then the single population dwindled and disappeared. In 2006 the plant was considered "possibly extinct" in the wild.[5] It was rediscovered in 2017


References
  1. Cyanea kuhihewa. The Nature Conservancy.
  2. USFWS Species Reports: Listed Plants
  3. Lammers, T. G. (1996). A new linear-leaved Cyanea (Campanulaceae: Lobelioideae) from Kaua'i, and the "rediscovery" of Cyanea linearifolia. Brittonia 48:2 237.
  4. Yanega, D. Cyanea kuhihewa. Archived 2012-05-11 at the Wayback Machine Curious Scientific Names.
  5. Evenhuis, N. L. and L. G. Eldridge, Eds. (2007). Records for the Hawaii Biological Society for 2006. Part 2. Bishop Museum Occasional Papers


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