Steven "Steve" Perlman is a

botanist Botany, also called , plant biology or phytology, is the science of plant life and a branch of biology. A botanist, plant scientist or phytologist is a scientist who specialises in this field. The term "botany" comes from the Ancient Greek wo ...

known for his work at the National Tropical Botanical Garden in

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 ...

. Perlman has been at the forefront of protecting Hawaii’s endangered species for more than 40 years. He has been described as a "rock star" botanist by the

Voice of America Voice of America (VOA or VoA) is the state-owned news network and international radio broadcaster of the United States of America. It is the largest and oldest U.S.-funded international broadcaster. VOA produces digital, TV, and radio content ...

. In the 1970s, he pioneered rappelling down high cliffs to save the '' Brighamia insignis'' - a rare Hawaiian plant commonly known as the Alula. After a long career as a field botanist at the National Tropical Botanical Garden, Perlman is now (as of 2014) the statewide specialist for Hawaii’s Plant Extinction Prevention Program. The program focuses on protecting species with fewer than 50 plants remaining in the wild. The specific epithet ''perlmanii'' in the palm ''

Pritchardia perlmanii ''Pritchardia perlmanii'', the Waioli Valley pritchardia, is a species of palm tree that is endemic to the island of Kauai in Hawaii, United States. It inhabits lowland mesic forests in the Waioli Valley at an elevation of . ''P. perlmanii' ...

'' honors Steven Perlman who was first to notice the unique features of this species.

References

''This article uses public domain text from the Voice of America as cited.'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Perlman, Steven 21st-century American botanists Year of birth missing (living people) Living people