Ka palupalu o Kanaloa
Names
- ʻŌlelo Hawaiʻi: Ka palupalu o Kanaloa
- Scientific: Kanaloa kahoolawensis
Conservation Status
- Federal and State Listed as Endangered
- Genetic Safety Net Species
- Hawai‘i Natural Heritage Ranking ‐ Critically Imperiled (G1)
- Endemism – Kaho‘olawe
- Critical Habitat ‐ Designated
Species Information
Ka palupalu o Kanaloa is a densely branched shrub 0.75 to 1 m (2.5 to 3.5 ft) tall. Ka palupalu o Kanaloa was unknown to science until its discovery in 1992, on a steep rocky spire on the coast of Kaho‘olawe. While there are no previous records of the plant, pollen core studies on O‘ahu, Maui, and Kaua‘i revealed a legume pollen that could not be identified but is most likely this species. The pollen cores indicate that this previously unidentified species was a codominant with Dodonaea viscosa and Pritchardia spp. from before 1210 B.C. to 1565 A.D., at which point Kanaloa disappeared from the pollen record, and D. viscosa and Pritchardia spp. also declined dramatically.
Distribution
Ka palupalu o Kanaloa is extinct in the wild and only found in cultivation.
Habitat
Dry rocky slope with sparse native shrubland.
Threats
- Competition from alien plant species
- Stochastic extinction
- Reduced reproductive vigor due to the small number of remaining individuals
- Climate Change
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:
Hawai‘i Natural Heritage Program, 2005. Hawaii Natural Heritage Program Search, https://www.hinhp.org/printpage.asp?spp=PDMAL0H0A0.
US Fish and Wildlife Service. 1999. Final Listing, Endangered ETWP; Final Endangered Status for 10 Plant Taxa From Maui Nui, HI, State of Hawaii, Vol. 64, No. 171 (3‐9‐1999), 64 FR 48307 48324, 21 pp.
Wagner, W. L., D. R. Herbst, and D. H. Lorence. 2005‐. Flora of the Hawaiian Islands website. https://ravenel.si.edu/botany/pacificislandbiodiversity/hawaiianflora/index.htm [August, 2005]
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