Division of Forestry and Wildlife: Native Ecosystems Protection & Management

Names

• ʻŌlelo Hawaiʻi: Hau kuahiwi
• Scientific: Hibiscadelphus woodii

Conservation Status

• Federal and State Listed as Endangered
• Plant Extinction Prevention Program Target
• IUCN Red List Ranking – Critically Endangered (CR D)
• Hawai‘i Natural Heritage Ranking‐ Critically Imperiled
• Endemism – Kaua‘i
• Critical Habitat ‐ Designated

Species Information

Hau kuahiwi, a member of the hibiscus family (Malvaceae) is a small, branched 2.5 to 5 m tree with a rounded crown. The leaves have stalks with star‐shaped hairs when young, which are lost when the leaves mature. Flowers are borne on individual stalks with star shaped hairs. The corolla is yellow with a coppery tinge when fresh, which rapidly turns purplish‐maroon. These plants are not currently accessible, even on rope.

Distribution

Kalalau rim, Kaua‘i

Habitat

Hau kuahiwi is found at elevations approximately 915 meters (3,000 ft) on basalt talus or cliff walls in Metrosideros polymorpha (ohia) montane mesic forest.  The habitat is being degraded by feral goats and pigs, and invasion by the alien plant species Erigeron karvinkianus (daisy fleabane).

Threats

• Competition from alien plant species, especially Erigeron karvinskianus (daisy fleabane)
• Habitat degradation by feral goats and pigs
• Damage by falling rocks
• Japanese white‐eye (Zosterops japonicus) feed off the nectar in the flowers, and in the process they damage the flower and cause them to die before they can set seed.

References & Additional Resources

For more information and references visit the State Wildlife Action Plan factsheets. DOFAWʻs species pages and State Wildlife Action Plan fact sheets are provided for general information and are not meant to be a citable, original source of data. If you are a student, researcher, or writer looking for a citable source, please explore the references below or find other original data sources, rather than citing these webpages. The references below were provided by the authors of the State Wildlife Action Plan fact sheets at the time of drafting:

Carr, G. 2005. Hawaiian Native Plant Genera, University of Hawaii Botany Department, https://www.botany.hawaii.edu/faculty/carr/images.

International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources, 2004, IUCN Red List of Threatened Species: Data Base Search, https://www.redlist.org/search/search‐basic.html.

US Fish and Wildlife Service.  1996.  Final Listing, Endangered ETWP Determination of Endangered or Threatened status for Nineteen Plant Species From the Island of Kauai, Hawaii; Federal Register, Vol. 61, No. 198, (10‐OCT‐96), 61 FR 53070 53089, 20 pp.

Wagner, W.L.; Herbst, D.R.; Sohmer, S.H., 1999. Manual of the Flowering Plants of Hawaiʹi‐‐ Revised Edition. Honolulu, HI: University of Hawaii Press and Bishop Museum Press. 1853p.

Photos