''Brighamia insignis'', commonly known as ''ʻŌlulu'' or ''Alula'' in Hawaiian, or colloquially as the vulcan palm or cabbage on a stick, is a species of Hawaiian lobelioid in the bellflower family,
Campanulaceae
The family Campanulaceae (also bellflower family), of the order Asterales, contains nearly 2400 species in 84 genera of herbaceous plants, shrubs, and rarely small trees, often with milky sap. Among them are several familiar garden plants bel ...
. It is native to the islands of
Kauai
Kauai (), anglicized as Kauai ( or ), is one of the main Hawaiian Islands.
It has an area of 562.3 square miles (1,456.4 km2), making it the fourth-largest of the islands and the 21st-largest island in the United States. Kauai lies 73 m ...
and
Niihau
Niihau (Hawaiian language, Hawaiian: ), anglicized as Niihau ( ), is the seventh largest island in Hawaii and the westernmost of the main islands. It is southwest of Kauai, Kauai across the Channels of the Hawaiian Islands#Kaulakahi Channel, Ka ...
, but has been
extinct in the wild
A species that is extinct in the wild (EW) is one that has been categorized by the International Union for Conservation of Nature as only consisting of living members kept in captivity or as a naturalized population outside its historic range ...
since at least 2019-2020. This short-lived perennial species is a member of a unique endemic
Hawaii
Hawaii ( ; ) is an island U.S. state, state of the United States, in the Pacific Ocean about southwest of the U.S. mainland. One of the two Non-contiguous United States, non-contiguous U.S. states (along with Alaska), it is the only sta ...
an genus with only one other species.
Description
''Brighamia insignis'' is a potentially branched plant with a
succulent
In botany, succulent plants, also known as succulents, are plants with parts that are thickened, fleshy, and engorged, usually to retain water in arid climates or soil conditions. The word ''succulent'' comes from the Latin word ''sucus'', meani ...
stem
Stem or STEM most commonly refers to:
* Plant stem, a structural axis of a vascular plant
* Stem group
* Science, technology, engineering, and mathematics
Stem or STEM can also refer to:
Language and writing
* Word stem, part of a word respon ...
that is bulbous at the bottom and tapers toward the top, ending in a compact
rosette
Rosette is the French diminutive of ''rose''. It may refer to:
Flower shaped designs
* Rosette (award), a mark awarded by an organisation
* Rosette (design), a small flower design
*hence, various flower-shaped or rotational symmetric forms:
** R ...
of fleshy
leaves
A leaf (: leaves) is a principal appendage of the stem of a vascular plant, usually borne laterally above ground and specialized for photosynthesis. Leaves are collectively called foliage, as in "autumn foliage", while the leaves, stem, ...
. The stem is usually in height, but can reach . The plant blooms in September through November.Hawaiian Native Plant Cultivation Database. University of Hawaii, Manoa. It has clusters of fragrant yellow
flower
Flowers, also known as blooms and blossoms, are the reproductive structures of flowering plants ( angiosperms). Typically, they are structured in four circular levels, called whorls, around the end of a stalk. These whorls include: calyx, m ...
s in groups of three to eight in the leaf axils. The scent has been compared to
honeysuckle
Honeysuckles are arching shrubs or Vine#Twining vines, twining vines in the genus ''Lonicera'' () of the family Caprifoliaceae. The genus includes 158 species native to northern latitudes in North America, Eurasia, and North Africa. Widely kno ...
.
Petal
Petals are modified leaves that form an inner whorl surrounding the reproductive parts of flowers. They are often brightly coloured or unusually shaped to attract pollinators. All of the petals of a flower are collectively known as the ''corol ...
s are fused into a tube long. The
fruit
In botany, a fruit is the seed-bearing structure in flowering plants (angiosperms) that is formed from the ovary after flowering.
Fruits are the means by which angiosperms disseminate their seeds. Edible fruits in particular have long propaga ...
seed
In botany, a seed is a plant structure containing an embryo and stored nutrients in a protective coat called a ''testa''. More generally, the term "seed" means anything that can be Sowing, sown, which may include seed and husk or tuber. Seeds ...
s.
Distribution and habitat
''Brighamia insignis'' was found at elevations from sea level to in mesic shrublands and
dry forests
The tropical and subtropical dry broadleaf forest is a habitat type defined by the World Wide Fund for Nature and is located at tropical and subtropical latitudes. Though these forests occur in climates that are warm year-round, and may receive ...
that receive less than of annual rainfall. It grew on rocky ledges with little
soil
Soil, also commonly referred to as earth, is a mixture of organic matter, minerals, gases, water, and organisms that together support the life of plants and soil organisms. Some scientific definitions distinguish dirt from ''soil'' by re ...
and steep sea
cliff
In geography and geology, a cliff or rock face is an area of Rock (geology), rock which has a general angle defined by the vertical, or nearly vertical. Cliffs are formed by the processes of weathering and erosion, with the effect of gravity. ...
s. Associated plants include ''āhinahina'' ('' Artemisia'' spp.) ''akoko'' (''
Euphorbia celastroides
''Euphorbia celastroides'' is a flowering plant in the family Euphorbiaceae. It is referred to by the common name akoko by Native Hawaiians, Hawaiians, and is a species of spurge closely related to the Euphorbia subg. Poinsettia, poinsettia. This ...
''), ''alahee'' (''
Psydrax odorata
''Psydrax odorata'', known as ''alahee'' in Hawaiian, is a species of flowering shrub or small tree in the coffee family, Rubiaceae. It is native to the Pacific Islands, New Guinea and Australia.
Description
The species range from in height, h ...
''), ''kāwelu'' (''
Eragrostis
''Eragrostis'' is a large and widespread genus of plants in the Poaceae, grass family, found in many countries on all inhabited continents and many islands.
''Eragrostis'' is commonly known as lovegrass or canegrass. The name of the genus is de ...
Heteropogon contortus
''Heteropogon contortus'' is a tropical, perennial tussock grass with a native distribution encompassing Southern Africa, southern Asia, Northern Australia, Oceania, and southwestern North America. The species has also become a naturalised weed ...
Lepidium
''Lepidium'' is a genus of plants in the mustard/cabbage family, Brassicaceae. The genus is widely distributed in the Americas, Africa, Asia, Europe, and Australia.serra''), ''nehe'' ('' Lipochaeta succulenta''), ''pokulakalaka'' ('' Munroidendron racemosum''), and ''ilima'' (''
Sida fallax
''Sida fallax'', known as yellow ilima, golden mallow,, or Ilima is a species of Herbaceous plant, herbaceous flowering plant in the ''Hibiscus'' family, Malvaceae, indigenous to the Hawaiian Archipelago and other Pacific Islands. Plants may be e ...
'').
''B. insignis'' is now extinct in the wild, having been in decline for many years. In 1994, the
United States Fish and Wildlife Service
The United States Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS or FWS) is a List of federal agencies in the United States, U.S. federal government agency within the United States Department of the Interior which oversees the management of fish, wildlife, ...
reported five populations totaling 45 to 65 individuals, and listed the plant 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, inv ...
. The last single individual was recorded in the wild in August 2012, and drone surveys in June 2019 and May 2020 found that it, too, had disappeared.
Endangered status
According to the U.S. Botanic Garden, its only
pollinator
A pollinator is an animal that moves pollen from the male anther of a flower to the female carpel, stigma of a flower. This helps to bring about fertilization of the ovules in the flower by the male gametes from the pollen grains.
Insects are ...
was a certain type of now-extinct
hawk moth
The Sphingidae are a family of moths commonly called sphinx moths, also colloquially known as hawk moths, with many of their caterpillars known as hornworms. It includes about 1,450 species. It is best represented in the tropics, but species ar ...
. This has made it all but impossible for ''B. insignis'' to reproduce on its own. Therefore, individuals only produce seed when artificially pollinated by humans.
Other threats to the species have included exotic plant species,
feral goat
The feral goat is the domestic goat (''Capra 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 domestic goats, all of which stem from the wild go ...
s and
pigs
The pig (''Sus domesticus''), also called swine (: swine) or hog, is an omnivorous, domesticated, even-toed, hoofed mammal. It is named the domestic pig when distinguishing it from other members of the genus '' Sus''. Some authorities cons ...
,
slug
Slug, or land slug, is a common name for any apparently shell-less Terrestrial mollusc, terrestrial gastropod mollusc. The word ''slug'' is also often used as part of the common name of any gastropod mollusc that has no shell, a very reduced ...
s,
rat
Rats are various medium-sized, long-tailed rodents. Species of rats are found throughout the order Rodentia, but stereotypical rats are found in the genus ''Rattus''. Other rat genera include '' Neotoma'' (pack rats), '' Bandicota'' (bandicoo ...
s,
fire
Fire is the rapid oxidation of a fuel in the exothermic chemical process of combustion, releasing heat, light, and various reaction Product (chemistry), products.
Flames, the most visible portion of the fire, are produced in the combustion re ...
hiking trail
A hike is a long, vigorous walk, usually on trails or footpaths in the countryside. Walking for pleasure developed in Europe during the eighteenth century. Long hikes as part of a religious pilgrimage have existed for a much longer time.
" ...
near one of the populations. The plant grows on steep, exposed cliffs and has been damaged by
hurricane
A tropical cyclone is a rapidly rotating storm system with a low-pressure area, a closed low-level atmospheric circulation, strong winds, and a spiral arrangement of thunderstorms that produce heavy rain and squalls. Depending on its ...
s and
landslide
Landslides, also known as landslips, rockslips or rockslides, are several forms of mass wasting that may include a wide range of ground movements, such as rockfalls, mudflows, shallow or deep-seated slope failures and debris flows. Landslides ...
s; in 1992, the remaining populations on the southeastern coast of Kauai were wiped out by
Hurricane Iniki
Hurricane Iniki ( ; Hawaiian: ''iniki'' meaning "strong and piercing wind") was a hurricane that struck the island of Kauai on September 11, 1992. It was the most powerful hurricane to strike Hawaii in recorded history, and the only hurricane to ...
, leaving only the populations on the island's north coast (which themselves continued to decline thereafter).
Cultivation
Despite its rarity in the wild it is not hard to cultivate in a nursery, and it has come into use as a novel
ornamental plant
Ornamental plants or ''garden plants'' are plants that are primarily grown for their beauty but also for qualities such as scent or how they shape physical space. Many flowering plants and garden varieties tend to be specially bred cultivars th ...
Image:Brighamia insignis - flowers.JPG, Flowers of the ''Brighamia insignis''
File:Flower HawaiianPalm.JPG, Closeup of a flower
Image:alula.jpg, An ''alula'' plant at
Limahuli Garden and Preserve
The Limahuli Garden and Preserve is a and on the north shore of Kauai island, Hawaii. It is one of the five gardens of the non-profit National Tropical Botanical Garden.
Description
Limahuli lies within a tropical valley covering three distinc ...