''Astelia waialealae'' is a rare species of
plant
Plants are predominantly photosynthetic eukaryotes of the kingdom Plantae. Historically, the plant kingdom encompassed all living things that were not animals, and included algae and fungi; however, all current definitions of Plantae exclu ...
in the
Asteliaceae
Asteliaceae is a family of flowering plants, placed in the order Asparagales of the monocots.
The family has only recently been recognized by taxonomists. The APG III system of 2009 (unchanged from the 1998 and 2003 versions) does recognize th ...
family that is
endemic
Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found else ...
to the island of
Kauai of the state of Hawaii in
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...
. It inhabits
montane bogs within the vicinity of the
Alakai Swamp on the island's central plateau. ''A. waialealae'' is threatened by
habitat loss
Habitat destruction (also termed habitat loss and habitat reduction) is the process by which a natural habitat becomes incapable of supporting its native species. The organisms that previously inhabited the site are displaced or dead, thereby ...
and habit disturbance by feral pigs;
there are only about 26 plants remaining. It is a federally listed
endangered species.
[The Nature Conservancy]
/ref>
References
External links
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Asteliaceae
Endemic flora of Hawaii
Biota of Kauai
Taxonomy articles created by Polbot
{{Asparagales-stub