Search / Plant Profile / Vicia menziesii

Plant Profile

Hawaiian Vetch (Vicia menziesii)

Close-up of rose flowers. Note the characteristic upward curved habit. Photo Credit: Dr. Gerald Carr

Global Rank: G1 - Critically Imperiled
Legal Status: Federally Endangered
Family: Fabaceae
State: HI
Nature Serve ID: 132953
Lifeform: Vine, Forb/herb
Date Inducted in National Collection:

Description:

Vicia menziesii is a vine that grows on the eastern slopes of Mauna Loa and Mauna Kea on the Island of Hawai`i. Its extensive branching system typically climbs into the subcanopy of the forest and can reach lengths of up to 60 feet. Each vine is known to produce more than 200 pinkish-rose flowers that gracefully hang from a thin, green stalk. Vicia menziesii is severely threatened by land development and aggressive exotic plants. It was the first Hawaiian plant to be listed as an endangered species (USFWS 1978a).

Where is Hawaiian Vetch (Vicia menziesii) located in the wild?

Habitat:

The Keauhou-Kilauea population occurs in wet to mesic forest, approximately 1,570 to 1,720 meters elevation. The Pu`uwaawaa population occurs in open, forest with a fern understory approximately 1,600 meters elevation. (Wagner et. al 1999)

Distribution:

Keauhou-Kilauea and Pu`uwaawaa, Hawai`i(Wagner et. al 1999; USFWS 2001)

States & Provinces:

Hawaiian Vetch can be found in Hawaii

Which CPC Partners conserve Hawaiian Vetch (Vicia menziesii)?

Harold L. Lyon Arboretum

Conservation Actions

10/01/2020

Exclosure at Keauhou-Kilauea (Private) Outplanting at Kapapala (USFWS 2001)

10/01/2020

Propagation (Harold L. Lyon Arboretum)

Nature Serve Biotics

05/02/2017

Recorded from the island of Hawaii on the volcanoes of Mauna Kea, Mauna Loa, and Hualalai. It is now known to be extant in only 2 areas: there are several hundred plants remaining on the eastern slope of Maunaloa, and a few individuals at a single spot on Hualalai. Threats to the species include alien plants, cattle, pigs, and deforestation.

Nellie Sugii

01/01/2010

Feral and domestic ungulates Alien plants Fire Invertebrates Humans Rats (USFWS 2001)

Nellie Sugii

01/01/2010

1 site (Hawai`i) 2 populations 15-50 individuals (larger population at Keauhou-Kilauea) (USFWS 2001)

Nellie Sugii

01/01/2010

Propagation (Harold L. Lyon Arboretum)

Nellie Sugii

01/01/2010

Exclosure at Keauhou-Kilauea (Private) Outplanting at Kapapala (USFWS 2001)

Nellie Sugii

01/01/2010

Invertebrate control Ungulate control Weed control Stewardship (Recovery Plan 1984)

Nellie Sugii

01/01/2010

Propagation Seed banking Genetic studies Biological and physiological studies (Recovery Plan 1984)