''Schiedea attenuata'' is a rare species of flowering plant in the family

Caryophyllaceae Caryophyllaceae, commonly called the pink family or carnation family, is a family of flowering plants. It is included in the dicotyledon order Caryophyllales in the APG III system, alongside 33 other families, including Amaranthaceae, Cactacea ...

known by the common name Kalalau schiedea. 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 else ...

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 state ...

, where it is known only from the

Kalalau Valley The Kalalau Valley is located on the northwest side of the island of Kauai in the state of Hawaii. The valley is located in the Nā Pali Coast State Park and houses the Kalalau Beach. The Nā Pali Coast is rugged and is inaccessible to aut ...

on the island of Kauai.''Shiedea attenuata''.
The Nature Conservancy. It is threatened by the degradation of its habitat. It was federally listed as an endangered species of the United States in 2010.USFWS
Determination of Endangered Status for 48 Species on Kauai and Designation of Critical Habitat; Final Rule.
''Federal Register'' April 13, 2010. This plant is a shrub growing up to about 75 centimeters tall. It is covered in tiny, curved, purplish hairs. The oppositely arranged leaves have thick, somewhat fleshy blades which are linear to lance-shaped and measure up to 7 centimeters long by less than a centimeter wide. The

inflorescence An inflorescence is a group or cluster of flowers arranged on a Plant stem, stem that is composed of a main branch or a complicated arrangement of branches. Morphology (biology), Morphologically, it is the modified part of the shoot of sperma ...

is an open cyme of up to 55 flowers. The flower has small lance-shaped green

sepal A sepal () is a part of the flower of angiosperms (flowering plants). Usually green, sepals typically function as protection for the flower in bud, and often as support for the petals when in bloom., p. 106 The term ''sepalum'' was coine ...

s and no petals.Wagner, W. L., et al. (1994)
Description of a rare new cliff-dwelling species from Kauai, ''Schiedea attenuata'' (Caryophyllaceae).
''Novon'' 4 187-90. This shrub grows on very steep

basalt Basalt (; ) is an aphanitic (fine-grained) extrusive igneous rock formed from the rapid cooling of low-viscosity lava rich in magnesium and iron (mafic lava) exposed at or very near the surface of a rocky planet or moon. More than 90 ...

cliffs on the slopes of the Kalalau Valley of Kauai. Other plants in the habitat include '' Gouania meyenii'', '' Peucedanum sandwicense'', '' Poa mannii'', ''

Hedyotis ''Hedyotis'' (starviolet) is a genus of flowering plants in the family Rubiaceae. Many species of this genus such as ''Hedyotis biflora, H. corymbosa'' and ''H. diffusa'' are well known medicinal plants. ''Hedyotis'' is native to tropical and su ...

'' sp., ''

Lysimachia glutinosa ''Lysimachia'' () is a genus consisting of 193 accepted species of flowering plants traditionally Taxonomy (biology), classified in the family Primulaceae. Based on a Molecular phylogeny, molecular phylogenetic study it was transferred to the f ...

'', '' Melicope pallida'', '' Dubautia'' sp., '' Dryopteris unidentata'', ''

Metrosideros polymorpha ''Metrosideros polymorpha'', the ''ōhia lehua'', is a species of flowering evergreen tree in the myrtle family, Myrtaceae, that is endemic to the six largest islands of Hawaii. It is a highly variable tree, being tall in favorable situations ...

'', ''

Coprosma ''Coprosma'' is a genus of flowering plants in the family Rubiaceae. It is found in New Zealand, Hawaiian Islands, Borneo, Java, New Guinea, islands of the Pacific Ocean to Australia and the Juan Fernández Islands. Description The name ''Copros ...

'' sp., ''

Vaccinium ''Vaccinium'' is a common and widespread genus of shrubs or dwarf shrubs in the heath family (Ericaceae). The fruits of many species are eaten by humans and some are of commercial importance, including the cranberry, blueberry, bilberry (whort ...

'' sp., '' Lipochaeta'' sp., ''

Wilkesia ''Wilkesia'' is a genus of Hawaiian plants in the tribe Madieae within the family Asteraceae. It contains two perennials, both of which are endemic to the island of Kauai in Hawaii. ''Wilkesia'' is a component of the silversword alliance and is ...

'' sp., '' Lobelia niihauensis'', '' Lepidium serra'', '' Nestegis sandwicensis'', and '' Hibiscus kokio''. When the plant was first described in 1994 there were only 20 individuals counted. By 2007 there had been no more plants discovered. One major threat to the species is the

feral goat The feral goat is the domestic goat (''Capra aegagrus hircus'') when it has become established in the wild. Feral goats occur in many parts of the world. Species Feral goats consist of many breeds of goats, all of which stem from the wild goat ...

population. It is also threatened by the

invasion An invasion is a Offensive (military), military offensive in which large numbers of combatants of one geopolitics, geopolitical Legal entity, entity aggressively enter territory (country subdivision), territory owned by another such entity, gen ...

of non-native plants into its habitat. Because there are only a few plants of this species, it could face

extinction 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 ...

in any one major 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 ...

References

External links

USDA Plants Profile
{{Taxonbar, from=Q7431252 attenuata Endemic flora of Hawaii Plants described in 1994