''Solanum incompletum'' is a rare species of flowering plant in the family Solanaceae known by the common names thorny popolo and ''popolo ku mai'' (''popolo'' being a term for any Solanum species and similar berry-bearing plants). 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 occurs today on the islands of Maui, Lanai, and

. It is threatened by the destruction and degradation of its habitat. It is a federally listed endangered species of the United States. This plant is a shrub growing up to 3 meters tall. Its stems and leaves are covered in large red prickles, and it bears star-shaped white flowers. The plant grows in forest and shrubland habitat, and cinder cone habitat on Hawaii.''Solanum incompletum''.
The Nature Conservancy. The species is

extirpated Local extinction, also known as extirpation, refers to a species (or other taxon) of plant or animal that ceases to exist in a chosen geographic area of study, though it still exists elsewhere. Local extinctions are contrasted with global extinct ...

from the islands of Kauai and Molokai.USFWS
''Solanum incompletum'' Five-year Review.
January 2008. It was feared extirpated from Hawaii until a small population was discovered there in recent years. Now there are 83 individuals estimated on that island. Several have been outplanted into appropriate habitat. The plant is threatened by

feral A feral () animal or plant is one that lives in the wild but is descended from domesticated individuals. As with an introduced species, the introduction of feral animals or plants to non-native regions may disrupt ecosystems and has, in some ...

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, ...

s such as

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 ...

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 ...

s, and

Mouflon The mouflon (''Ovis gmelini'') is a wild sheep native to Cyprus, the Caspian region from eastern Turkey, Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Iran. It is thought to be the ancestor of all modern domestic sheep breeds. Taxonomy ''Ovis gmelini'' was the sc ...

. 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 ...

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 ther ...

of plants such as '' Pennisetum setaceum'' (fountain grass) and '' Kalanchoe tubiflora'' (chandelier plant) degrades the habitat. The plants also appear to have trouble reproducing, as evidenced by low seed production, perhaps due to extinction of their preferred pollinators.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q7555749 incompletum Endemic flora of Hawaii Plants described in 1852