Hawaiian Rare Plant Program

Hawai`i, a tropical paradise in the middle of the Pacific, is a favorite vacation spot for many around the world. Hawai`i is known for its wondrous natural displays such as erupting volcanoes, pristine white sand beaches, tropical sunsets and also for the beautiful exotic flora and fauna. What is surprising to many is that the plants that have become symbolic to Hawai`i, such as the Bird of Paradise, Orchids, Plumeria and even the Pineapple, are not natives but recent human introductions within the last century. In fact, the vast majority of all the plants visible in Hawai`i's landscape today are of foreign origin.

Currently, there are about 1,000 native Hawaiian species of which 90% are endemic, or found no where else in the world. This represents the largest percentage of endemism found within a single large island group anywhere else in the world. With the advent of human discovery and colonization, significant decline and in many cases extinction of Hawaiian plant species has occurred. Today, over one half of all the Hawaiian vascu lar plants are endangered, making up approximately 25% of all the federally listed endangered and threatened plant species in the United States.

Extinction of many of our Polynesian introduced crop varieties is also occurring due to lost cultural knowledge as to usage, lack of interest, pests and diseases, and competition.