''Exocarpos luteolus'' is a rare species of flowering plant in the sandalwood family known by the common names leafy ballart or '. It 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 ...

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; haw, Hawaii or ) is a state in the Western United States, located in the Pacific Ocean about from the U.S. mainland. It is the only U.S. state outside North America, the only state that is an archipelago, and the only ...

, where it is known only from the island of Kauai.''Exocarpos luteolus''.

The Nature Conservancy The Nature Conservancy (TNC) is a global environmental organization headquartered in Arlington, Virginia. it works via affiliates or branches in 79 countries and territories, as well as across every state in the US. Founded in 1951, The Natu ...

. There are eight populations remaining, for a total global population of only 39 individuals.USFWS
''Exocarpos luteolus'' Five-year Review.
August 2010. The plant was federally listed as an endangered species of the United States in 1994.USFWS
Determination of endangered or threatened status for 24 plants from the island of Kauai, HI.
''Federal Register'' February 25, 1994. This plant is a shrub growing one half to two meters tall. There are two types of leaves, lance-shaped to oval leaf blades up to 8 centimeters long and smaller, reduced leaves that are like scales. Some plants have only scale-like leaves and appear leafless at first glance. The flower has six greenish petals each about a millimeter long. The fruit is a yellow

drupe In botany, a drupe (or stone fruit) is an indehiscent fruit in which an outer fleshy part ( exocarp, or skin, and mesocarp, or flesh) surrounds a single shell (the ''pit'', ''stone'', or '' pyrena'') of hardened endocarp with a seed (''kerne ...

between 1 and 2 centimeters long. This rare plant grows in several types of habitat, including

bog A bog or bogland is a wetland that accumulates peat as a deposit of dead plant materials often mosses, typically sphagnum moss. It is one of the four main types of wetlands. Other names for bogs include mire, mosses, quagmire, and muskeg; a ...

s, open ridges, and closed wet forests. Plants sharing the forested habitat types may include

ohia ''Metrosideros polymorpha'', the ''ōhia lehua'', is a species of flowering evergreen tree in the myrtle family, Myrtaceae, that is endemic to the six largest islands of Hawaii. It is a highly variable tree, being tall in favorable situations ...

(''Metrosideros polymorpha''), uluhe (''Dicranopteris linearis''),

koa KOA (short for Kampgrounds of America) is an American franchise of privately owned campgrounds. Having more than 500 locations across the United States and Canada, it is the world's largest system of privately owned campgrounds. It was founded i ...

(''Acacia koa''),

kauila Kauila refers to two species of trees in the buckthorn family, Rhamnaceae, that are endemic to Hawaii: ''Alphitonia ponderosa'' and ''Colubrina oppositifolia''. Their wood was prized for being extremely hard, and is so dense that it sinks in wate ...

(''Alphitonia ponderosa''), and poʻola nui (''Bidens cosmoides''). Plants in its bog habitat may include pa iniu (''Astelia waialealae''), and

kanawao ''Broussaisia arguta'', the kanawao, is a species of Perennial plant, perennial flowering plant in the ''Hydrangea'' family, Hydrangeaceae, that is Endemism, endemic to Hawaii, Hawaii. It is the only species in the monotypic genus ''Broussaisi ...

(''Broussaisia arguta''). This plant is nearing

extinction Extinction is the termination of a kind of organism or of a group of kinds ( taxon), usually a species. The moment of extinction is generally considered to be the death of the last individual of the species, although the capacity to breed ...

because of a number of threats, mainly

habitat destruction Habitat destruction (also termed habitat loss and habitat reduction) is the process by which a natural habitat becomes incapable of supporting its native species. The organisms that previously inhabited the site are displaced or dead, thereby ...

and degradation from

feral goat The feral goat is the domestic goat (''Capra aegagrus 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 goats, all of which stem from the wild goa ...

s and

pigs The pig (''Sus domesticus''), often called swine, hog, or domestic pig when distinguishing from other members of the genus ''Sus'', is an omnivorous, domesticated, even-toed, hoofed mammal. It is variously considered a subspecies of ''Sus ...

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'' (bandico ...

s consume the seeds. Many

invasive plant species An invasive species otherwise known as an alien is an introduced organism that becomes overpopulated and harms its new environment. Although most introduced species are neutral or beneficial with respect to other species, invasive species adv ...

are present in the habitat, including prickly blackberry (''Rubus argutus''),

banana poka ''Passiflora tarminiana'' (or banana passionfruit) is a species of passionfruit. The yellow fruits are edible and their resemblance to small, straight bananas has given it the name banana passionfruit in some countries. It is native to the uplan ...

(''Passiflora tarminiana''), Santa Barbara daisy (''Erigeron karvinskianus'') paii iha (''Christella dentata''),

lantana ''Lantana'' () is a genus of about 150 species of perennial flowering plants in the verbena family, Verbenaceae. They are native to tropical regions of the Americas and Africa but exist as an introduced species in numerous areas, especially ...

(''Lantana camara''), and molasses grass (''Melinis minutiflora'').

References

External links

{{Taxonbar, from=Q5420497 luteolus Endemic flora of Hawaii