''Helodeaster erici'' is a

species In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate s ...

flowering plant Flowering plants are plants that bear flowers and fruits, and form the clade Angiospermae (), commonly called angiosperms. The term "angiosperm" is derived from the Greek words ('container, vessel') and ('seed'), and refers to those plants th ...

from the

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus com ...

'' Helodeaster''. It is endemic to the island of

Kauai Kauai, () anglicized as Kauai ( ), is geologically the second-oldest of the main Hawaiian Islands (after Niʻihau). With an area of 562.3 square miles (1,456.4 km2), it is the fourth-largest of these islands and the 21st largest island ...

in the

Hawaiian Islands The Hawaiian Islands ( haw, Nā Mokupuni o Hawai‘i) are an archipelago of eight major islands, several atolls, and numerous smaller islets in the North Pacific Ocean, extending some from the island of Hawaii in the south to northernmost Kur ...

. The species was originally described by

Charles Noyes Forbes Charles Noyes Forbes (1883–1920) was an American botanist who primarily worked on Hawaii. Biography Forbes was born in Boylston, Massachusetts on 24 September 1883.Occasional papers of the Bernice Pauahi Bishop Museum of Polynesian Ethnolog ...

as ''Lagenophora erici'' in 1918. In 2020

Guy L. Nesom Guy L. Nesom (born August 2, 1945)''U.S. Public Records Index'' Vol 2 (Provo, UT: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc.), 2010. is an American writer and botanist. Nesom received his Ph.D. in systematic botany from the University of North Carolina in 19 ...

placed it in the new Hawaiian endemic genus ''Helodeaster''.

References

Asteraceae Endemic flora of Hawaii Plants described in 1918 Taxa named by Charles Noyes Forbes {{Asteraceae-stub