''Remya kauaiensis'' is a rare species of flowering plant in the family

Asteraceae The family Asteraceae, alternatively Compositae, consists of over 32,000 known species of flowering plants in over 1,900 genera within the order Asterales. Commonly referred to as the aster, daisy, composite, or sunflower family, Compositae w ...

, known by the common name of Kauai remya. It 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 elsew ...

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; haw, Hawaii or ) is a state in the Western United States, located in the Pacific Ocean about from the U.S. mainland. It is the only U.S. state outside North America, the only state that is an archipelago, and the only stat ...

, where it is known only from 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 ...

. It is threatened by the degradation of its habitat. It is a federally listed

endangered species An endangered species is a species that is very likely to become extinct in the near future, either worldwide or in a particular political jurisdiction. Endangered species may be at risk due to factors such as habitat loss, poaching and inv ...

of the United States. This

shrub A shrub (often also called a bush) is a small-to-medium-sized perennial woody plant. Unlike herbaceous plants, shrubs have persistent woody stems above the ground. Shrubs can be either deciduous or evergreen. They are distinguished from trees ...

usually grows up to about tall,''Remya kauaiensis''.
Center for Plant Conservation. but can reach up to .''Remya kauaiensis''.
The Nature Conservancy. It has many vine-like spreading branches with fuzzy tips. The toothed leaves are green on the upper surfaces and are coated in white hairs on the undersides. The

inflorescence An inflorescence is a group or cluster of flowers arranged on a stem that is composed of a main branch or a complicated arrangement of branches. Morphologically, it is the modified part of the shoot of seed plants where flowers are formed o ...

is a

panicle A panicle is a much-branched inflorescence. (softcover ). Some authors distinguish it from a compound spike inflorescence, by requiring that the flowers (and fruit) be pedicellate (having a single stem per flower). The branches of a panicle are of ...

flower heads A pseudanthium (Greek for "false flower"; ) is an inflorescence that resembles a flower. The word is sometimes used for other structures that are neither a true flower nor a true inflorescence. Examples of pseudanthia include flower heads, compos ...

. The flowers are probably pollinated by insects and the seeds are likely dispersed by wind or water. This plant is one of three species in ''Remya'', a genus endemic to Hawaii, and one of the two ''Remya'' that are limited to the island of Kauai.USFWS
''Remya kauaiensis'' Five-year Review.
August 2010. For a time this species was feared

extinct Extinction is the termination of a kind of organism or of a group of kinds (taxon), usually a species. The moment of extinction is generally considered to be the death of the last individual of the species, although the capacity to breed and ...

, but it was rediscovered in the 1980s. As of 2003 there were 17 populations for a total of not more than 114 individuals. The populations are distributed through several valleys and canyons on Kauai. It grows on steep canyon walls and in gulches, often on north-facing slopes. It may grow by rivers and next to

waterfall A waterfall is a point in a river or stream where water flows over a vertical drop or a series of steep drops. Waterfalls also occur where meltwater drops over the edge of a tabular iceberg or ice shelf. Waterfalls can be formed in several wa ...

s. It can generally be found in forested habitat dominated by

koa KOA (short for Kampgrounds of America) is an American franchise of privately owned campgrounds. Having more than 500 locations across the United States and Canada, it is the world's largest system of privately owned campgrounds. It was founded in ...

and

ohia ''Metrosideros polymorpha'', the ''ōhia lehua'', is a species of flowering evergreen tree in the Myrtus, myrtle family, Myrtaceae, that is Endemism, endemic to the six largest Hawaiian Islands, islands of Hawaii, Hawaii. It is a highly variable ...

trees. Other plants in the habitat include

kauila Kauila refers to two species of trees in the buckthorn family, Rhamnaceae, that are endemic to Hawaii: ''Alphitonia ponderosa'' and ''Colubrina oppositifolia''. Their wood was prized for being extremely hard, and is so dense that it sinks in wate ...

, maile, ahakea lau lii,

akoko The Akoko are a large Yoruba cultural sub-group in the Northeastern part of Yorubaland. The area spans from Ondo state to Edo state in southwest Nigeria. The Akokos as a subgroup make up 20.3% of the population of Ondo state. Out of the present ...

, laukea, uki uki, uluhe, aalii, manono, pukiawe, uahiapele, kolea, olopua, and alaa. Threats to this species include destruction of the habitat by

introduced species An introduced species, alien species, exotic species, adventive species, immigrant species, foreign species, non-indigenous species, or non-native species is a species living outside its native distributional range, but which has arrived there ...

ungulate Ungulates ( ) are members of the diverse clade Ungulata which primarily consists of large mammals with hooves. These include odd-toed ungulates such as horses, rhinoceroses, and tapirs; and even-toed ungulates such as cattle, pigs, giraffes, cam ...

s such as feral pigs, feral goats, cattle, and deer.

Invasive plant species An invasive species otherwise known as an alien is an introduced organism that becomes overpopulated and harms its new environment. Although most introduced species are neutral or beneficial with respect to other species, invasive species ad ...

are also a threat, including narrow-leaved carpetgrass, hammock fern, airplant, daisy fleabane,

blackberry The blackberry is an edible fruit produced by many species in the genus ''Rubus'' in the family Rosaceae, hybrids among these species within the subgenus ''Rubus'', and hybrids between the subgenera ''Rubus'' and ''Idaeobatus''. The taxonomy of ...

, silk oak, lantana,

banana poka ''Passiflora tarminiana'' (or banana passionfruit) is a species of passionfruit. The yellow fruits are edible and their resemblance to small, straight bananas has given it the name banana passionfruit in some countries. It is native to the uplan ...

, Kahili ginger, sourbush, and basketgrass. Other threats include

erosion Erosion is the action of surface processes (such as water flow or wind) that removes soil, rock, or dissolved material from one location on the Earth's crust, and then transports it to another location where it is deposited. Erosion is distin ...

and fire, and because the plant is already rare, it is threatened with extinction by any one large event, such as a

hurricane A tropical cyclone is a rapidly rotating storm system characterized by a low-pressure center, a closed low-level atmospheric circulation, strong winds, and a spiral arrangement of thunderstorms that produce heavy rain and squalls. Depend ...

. Conservation efforts include the collection of seeds for storage and the

propagation Propagation can refer to: *Chain propagation in a chemical reaction mechanism *Crack propagation, the growth of a crack during the fracture of materials *Propaganda, non-objective information used to further an agenda *Reproduction, and other forms ...

seedling A seedling is a young sporophyte developing out of a plant embryo from a seed. Seedling development starts with germination of the seed. A typical young seedling consists of three main parts: the radicle (embryonic root), the hypocotyl (embry ...

References

External links

USDA Plants Profile
{{Taxonbar, from=Q7312275 Astereae Endemic flora of Hawaii