Kohe Malama Malama O Kanaloa

Kanaloa kahoolawensis

Description

The kohe malama malama o kanaloa was only "discovered" in 1992, when botanists were exploring a remote coastal habitat. It is the only species in its genus, and therefore its discovery received a great deal of attention from botanists and naturalists. It is a densely branched shrub, growing up to 3.5 ft (1 m) tall. Its branches are sprawling and up to 5 ft (1.5 m) long. The new branch growth is densely covered with brown and white hairs. The twigs have a brown bark, are ribbed or angled, and become whitish gray with corky fissures. The leaves are clustered near the tips of the twigs and have two persistent stipules. The leaf petiole is 0.2-0.9 in (6-24 mm) long. The compound leaves are divided into three pairs of leaflets, with a nectary (a nectar-secreting gland) located at the joint between each pair of leaflets. The leaflet pairs are 0.8-2.0 in (22-55 mm) long. The leaflets are egg-shaped, unequal-sided, 0.6-1.7 in (1.4-4.2 cm) long, and 0.4-1.3 in (0.9-3.2 cm) wide. One to three inflorescences occur in leaf axils (the joint between the leaf and stem), developing at the same time as the flush of new leaves. The main stalk (peduncle) of the inflorescence is 0.3-1.2 in (8-30 mm) long. The inflorescence is a globose head up to 0.3 in (8 mm) in diameter, with small bracts up to 0.06 in (1.5 mm) long at the base. Each inflorescence consists of 20 to 54 white, male flowers. The calyx of the male flowers has limbs that are wider at the tip, is densely covered with long white hairs, and has lobes that overlap when the flower is in bud. The corolla lobes also overlap when the flower is in bud, and the petals are up to 0.07 in (1.8 mm) long. The petals are hairy on the outside at the tip, and are not fused at the base. The male flowers have ten stamens, which are fused at their base. The male flowers also have non-functional, vestigial female parts. Female flowers have not been observed (although they do exist). The fruit is borne on a stalk about 0.2 in (5 mm) long. Up to four fruits develop in each flowering head. The ripe fruit is egg-shaped to subcircular, compressed, hairy at the base, and open along two sides. Each fruit contains one slender, brown seed, about 0.08 in (2 mm) long.

Habitat

The kohe malama malama o kanaloa grows on a steep rocky spire. Its habitat is mixed coastal shrub-land on steep rocky talus slopes at an elevation of 150-200 ft (45-60 m).

Distribution

The kohe malama malama o kanaloa is a locally evolved, or endemic species that is only known from the southern coast of Kahoolawe, Hawaii. The Hawaiian archipelago has an extremely large fraction of endemic species; about 89% of the indigenous flowering plants occur nowhere else in the world.

Threats

The kohe malama malama o kanaloa is only known from one rocky coastal stack, on land owned by the State of Hawaii. Only two living individuals and 10 to 12 dead individuals are known. The major threats to its survival are habitat loss caused by landslides, and habitat changes caused by the invasive non-native plants Emelia fosbergii, swollen finger grass (Chloris barbata ), and tobacco tree (Nicotiana glauca ). Introduced goats were also a major cause of vegetation change, but these have now been removed from Kahoolawe. It is likely that the kohe malama malama o kanaloa was only able to survive because its habitat on a sea-stack is extremely remote and inaccessible from the mainland. Introduced rats are also a potential threat, as predators of its seeds. The island of Kahoolawe has been used for practice bombardment by the U. S. Navy in the past. Because of its tiny population size (only 2 individuals), the kohe malama malama o kanaloa is at great risk from natural catastrophes, such as coastal erosion or a hurricane.

Conservation and Recovery

The kohe malama malama o kanaloa occurs on land owned by the State of Hawaii. In 1993, Kahoolawe was transferred to native Hawaiian control. The Kahoolawe Island Reserve Commission, under the Historic Preservation section of the Hawaii Department of Land and Natural Resources, was established to oversee the cleanup of the island, including the removal of unexploded military ordnance and the restoration of native ecosystems and traditional cultural uses. Funding for the cleanup was authorized by the U. S. Congress, and the U. S. Navy is responsible for performing the cleanup. Although it does not lease the island, the Navy controls access to it because of the danger of unexploded ordnance. The island is not a State Forest Reserve, Natural Area Reserve, or within a conservation district. However, the island is managed for the protection of endemic biological values. Conservation of the kohe malama malama o kanaloa requires research into the local environmental factors that are constraining its population growth, and on management to alleviate those stressors. Work should be undertaken to develop means of cultivating the rare plant in captivity, to develop stock for out-planting into wild habitats. Preliminary work at the Lawai Garden of the National Tropical Botanical Garden has already resulted in the growth of three individuals from wild-collected seed. Its remaining natural habitat must also be protected, and the abundance of invasive alien plants reduced.

Contacts

U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service
Regional Office, Division of Endangered Species
Eastside Federal Complex
911 N. E. 11th Ave.
Portland, Oregon 97232-4181
(503) 231-6121
http://pacific.fws.gov/

U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service
Pacific Islands Ecoregion, Pacific Islands Fish and
Wildlife Office
300 Ala Moana Boulevard, Room 3-122
P. O. Box 50088
Honolulu, Hawaii 96850-5000
Telephone: (808) 541-3441

Reference

U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service. 3 September 1999 "Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants: Final Endangered Status for 10 Plant Taxa From Maui Nui, Hawaii." Federal Register 64 (171):48307-48324.