''Cenchrus agrimonioides'' is a rare species of grass in the family Poaceae that 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 els ...

to the

Hawaiian Islands The Hawaiian Islands ( haw, Nā Mokupuni o Hawai‘i) are an archipelago of eight major islands, several atolls, and numerous smaller islets in the North Pacific Ocean, extending some from the island of Hawaii in the south to northernmost ...

. Its common names include Kāmanomano and agrimony sandbur. It was formerly distributed throughout the major islands but today it is nearly limited to

Oahu Oahu () ( Hawaiian: ''Oʻahu'' ()), also known as "The Gathering Place", is the third-largest of the Hawaiian Islands. It is home to roughly one million people—over two-thirds of the population of the U.S. state of Hawaii. The island of O� ...

. Kāmanomano inhabits

dry Dry or dryness most often refers to: * Lack of rainfall, which may refer to ** Arid regions ** Drought * Dry or dry area, relating to legal prohibition of selling, serving, or imbibing alcoholic beverages * Dry humor, deadpan * Dryness (medica ...

to moist forests and lava plains. It is threatened by competition with non-native plants, predation by

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, giraff ...

s, and

wildfire A wildfire, forest fire, bushfire, wildland fire or rural fire is an unplanned, uncontrolled and unpredictable fire in an area of combustible vegetation. Depending on the type of vegetation present, a wildfire may be more specifically identi ...

. When this plant became a federally listed endangered species of the United States in 1996 there were fewer than 100 individuals remaining.USFWS
''Cenchrus agrimonioides'' Five Year Review.
July 21, 2009. More recent counts revealed 181 wild individuals on Oahu and over 300 more which have been planted to augment the populations. This plant is nearly restricted to the island of Oahu, but there are a few individuals known on Maui. A few patches of the grass have been planted on

Kahoolawe Kahoolawe (Hawaiian: ), anglicized as Kahoolawe (), is the smallest of the eight main volcanic islands in the Hawaiian Islands. Kahoolawe is located about southwest of Maui and also southeast of Lānaʻi, and it is long by wide, with a total ...

, as well. ''Cenchrus agrimonioides'' var. ''laysanensis'', a variety of this species endemic to the

Northwestern Hawaiian Islands The Northwestern Hawaiian Islands or Leeward Hawaiian Islands are a series of islands and atolls in the Hawaiian island chain located northwest (in some cases, far to the northwest) of the islands of Kauai and Niihau. Politically, they are all ...

, became extinct in the 1980s. Remaining plants of this species are the variety ''agrimonioides''. This is a perennial grass which produces is flowers and fruits within spiny burs.The Nature Conservancy: ''Cenchrus agrimonioides''
/ref> These burs attach to animals, which might then disperse the seeds.

References

External links

USDA Plants Profile
{{Taxonbar, from=Q5058800 agrimonioides Plants described in 1826 Endemic flora of Hawaii Endangered flora of the United States NatureServe critically imperiled species Taxonomy articles created by Polbot