''Cyanea eleeleensis'' was a rare species of flowering plant in the

bellflower family The family (biology), family Campanulaceae (also bellflower family), of the order (biology), order Asterales, contains nearly 2400 species in 84 genus, genera of herbaceous plant, herbaceous flowering plant, plants, shrubs, and rarely small trees ...

known by the common name Eleele cyanea. It was

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found only 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 foun ...

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 ...

, where it has been declared extinct.USFWS
Determination of endangered status for 48 species on Kauai and designation of critical habitat; Final rule.
''Federal Register'' April 13, 2010. It was federally listed as a

critically endangered An IUCN Red List critically endangered (CR or sometimes CE) species is one that has been categorized by the International Union for Conservation of Nature as facing an extremely high risk of extinction in the wild. As of December 2023, of t ...

species of the United States in 2010. Like other '' Cyanea'' it is known as ''haha'' in Hawaiian.USFWS Species Reports: Listed Plants.
/ref> This Hawaiian lobelioid was discovered in 1977 near a

gulch A gulch is a deep V-shaped valley formed by erosion. It may contain a small stream or dry creek bed and is usually larger in size than a gully. Sudden intense rainfall upstream may produce flash floods in the bed of the gulch. In eastern Can ...

called Pali 'Ele'ele on Kauai. The

shrub A shrub or bush is a small to medium-sized perennial woody plant. Unlike herbaceous plants, shrubs have persistent woody stems above the ground. Shrubs can be either deciduous or evergreen. They are distinguished from trees by their multiple ...

is known to grow nearly two meters tall with leaves up to 40 centimeters long by 11 wide. The

inflorescence In botany, an inflorescence is a group or cluster of flowers arranged on a plant's Plant stem, stem that is composed of a main branch or a system of branches. An inflorescence is categorized on the basis of the arrangement of flowers on a mai ...

bears up to 20 tubular flowers which are purple in color with paler longitudinal stripes.Lammers, T. G. (1992)
Two new combinations in the endemic Hawaiian genus ''Cyanea'' (Campanulaceae: Lobelioideae).
''Novon'' 2:2 129-131. Threats to this rare species included habitat degradation by

feral pig A feral pig is a domestic pig 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 g ...

exotic plants 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 ...

, and landslides.Bruegmann, M. M. & V. Caraway. (2003)
''Cyanea eleeleensis''

IUCN Red List of Threatened Species The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species, also known as the IUCN Red List or Red Data Book, founded in 1964, is an inventory of the global conservation status and extinction risk of biological spe ...

. IUCN 2010
www.iucnredlist.org
. Retrieved on 25 February 2011.

References

External links

USDA Plants Profile
eleeleensis Endemic flora of Hawaii Biota of Kauai {{Campanulaceae-stub