Rare Hawaiian plant depends on humans for survival
Brighamia insignis
Family: Campanulaceae
Conservation status: Extinct in the wild
These caudiciform (fat-trunked) succulents used to grow wild up 16 feet tall on coastal cliffs and dry forests and shrublands on the Hawaiian islands of Kaua‘i and Ni‘ihau, bearing fragant, tubular, yellowish flowers.
But in 2020, this short-lived perennial – known as ʻŌlulu or Alula in Hawaiian – was declared extinct in the wild, and now is found only in the collections of some 50 or so botanical gardens worldwide.
The species is commonly known as the Vulcan palm or cabbage on a stick – though it is not related to either. Many factors likely contributed to its downfall in the wild, including hurricanes and landslides, competition from invasive plants, and disturbance from grazing goats and other feral animals. Also, its presumed hawkmoth pollinator may have gone extinct, as well.
Several decades ago, two botanists risked their lives to scale cliffs to collect seed, and conservationists are carefully managing and exchanging pollen in attempts to maintain genetic diversity with the remaining cultivated plants.
More information:
- Species Spotlight: The ʻŌlulu, a Rare Hawaiian Plant That Depends on Humans for Survival – Center for Biological Diversity
- Alula, Olulu (Brighamia insignis) – Hawaii Department of Land and Natural Resources