''Schiedea kauaiensis'' 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 Kauai 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 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 ...

.''Schiedea kauaiensis''.
The Nature Conservancy. It is threatened by the degradation and destruction of its habitat. It was federally listed as an

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 in 1996.Determination of Endangered or Threatened Status for Fourteen Plant Taxa From the Hawaiian Islands
''Federal Register'' October 10, 1996. This plant is a

subshrub A subshrub (Latin ''suffrutex'') or dwarf shrub is a short shrub, and is a woody plant. Prostrate shrub is a related term. "Subshrub" is often used interchangeably with "bush".Jackson, Benjamin, Daydon; A Glossary of Botanic Terms with their Der ...

with branches up to 1.5 meters long. The oppositely arranged leaves have green or purplish blades up to 13 centimeters long by 3.5 wide. 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 hairy cluster of flowers with small green or purple-tinged

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 coined b ...

s and no petals. This plant is now limited to two populations on the island of Kauai, totalling only 12 individuals.USFWS
''Schiedea kauaiensis'' Five-year Review.
January 2008. Before these populations were located the plant had been 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 ...

. Threats to the species include habitat degradation by

feral pig The feral pig is a domestic pig which has gone feral, meaning it lives in the wild. They are found mostly in the Americas and Australia. Razorback and wild hog are Americanisms applied to feral pigs or boar-pig hybrids. Definition A feral pi ...

s and

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 ...

of plants such as ''

Ageratina riparia ''Ageratina riparia'', commonly known as mistflower, is a species of flowering plant in the family Asteraceae, native to Mexico. The species is widely adventive and has spread to Cuba, Jamaica, and other parts of the Caribbean. It has also bee ...

'' (Hamakua pamakani), ''

Clidemia hirta ''Miconia crenata'', (syn. ''Clidemia hirta''), commonly called soapbush, clidemia or Koster's curse, is a perennial shrub. It is an invasive plant species in many tropical regions of the world, creating serious damage. Description ''Miconia cre ...

'' (Koster's curse), ''

Clusia rosea ''Clusia rosea'', the autograph tree, copey, cupey, balsam apple, pitch-apple, and Scotch attorney, is a tropical and sub-tropical flowering plant species in the family Clusiaceae. The name '' Clusia major'' is sometimes misapplied to this specie ...

'' (autograph tree), ''

Erigeron karvinskianus ''Erigeron karvinskianus'', the Mexican fleabane, is a species of daisy-like flowering plant in the family Asteraceae, native to Mexico and parts of Central America. Other common names include Latin American fleabane, Santa Barbara daisy, Spanis ...

'' (daisy fleabane), ''

Lantana camara ''Lantana camara'' (common lantana) is a species of flowering plant within the verbena family (Verbenaceae), native to the American tropics. It is a very adaptable species, which can inhabit a wide variety of ecosystems; once it has been introduc ...

'' (lantana), ''

Psidium guajava ''Psidium guajava'', the common guava, yellow guava, lemon guava, or apple guava is an evergreen shrub or small tree native to the Caribbean, Central America and South America. It is easily pollinated by insects; when cultivated, it is pollina ...

'' (common guava), ''

Schefflera actinophylla ''Heptapleurum actinophyllum'' (formerly ''Schefflera actinophylla'') is a tree in the family Araliaceae. It is native to tropical rainforests and gallery forests in northern and north-eastern Queensland coasts and the Northern Territory of Austr ...

'' (octopus tree), ''

Schinus terebinthifolius ''Schinus terebinthifolia'' is a species of flowering plant in the cashew family, Anacardiaceae, that is native to subtropical and tropical South America. Common names include Brazilian peppertree, aroeira, rose pepper, broadleaved pepper tree, ...

'' (Christmasberry), ''

Rubus rosifolius ''Rubus rosifolius'', (sometimes spelled ''Rubus rosaefolius''), also known as roseleaf bramble, Mauritius raspberry, thimbleberry, Vanuatu raspberry and bramble of the Cape is a prickly subshrub native to rainforest and tall open forest of the ...

'' (thimbleberry), ''

Passiflora mollissima ''Passiflora tripartita'' also called curuba, tumbo, curuba de Castilla and tumbo serrano is a species of Passiflora from Peru, Bolivia, Ecuador, Colombia, and Brazil in areas at elevations of 2000 – 3200 meters. Description The banana passi ...

'' (banana poka), ''

Rubus argutus ''Rubus argutus'' is a North American species of prickly bramble in the rose family. It is a perennial plant native to the eastern and south-central United States. Common names are sawtooth blackberry or tall blackberry after its high growth. ...

'' (prickly Florida blackberry), ''

Drymaria cordata ''Drymaria cordata'', the tropical chickweed, West Indian chickweed, or golondrina, is a species of flowering plant in the family Caryophyllaceae Caryophyllaceae, commonly called the pink family or carnation family, is a family of flowering pl ...

'' (Pipili), and ''

Paspalum conjugatum ''Paspalum conjugatum'', commonly known as carabao grass or hilo grass, is a tropical to subtropical perennial grass. It is originally from the American tropics, but has been naturalized widely in tropical Southeast Asia and Pacific Islands. It h ...

'' (Hilo grass).

References

External links

USDA Plants Profile
{{Taxonbar, from=Q7431257 kauaiensis Endemic flora of Hawaii Plants described in 1988