Kakea Clermontia (Clermontia kakeana)

Jac collecting Clermontia kakeana Photo Credit: Jordan Takaba

Global Rank: G3 - Vulnerable
Legal Status: N/A
Family: Campanulaceae
State: HI
Nature Serve ID: 147030
Lifeform: Tree, Shrub
Date Inducted in National Collection: 07/05/2021

Description:

Where is Kakea Clermontia (Clermontia kakeana) located in the wild?

States & Provinces:

Kakea Clermontia can be found in Hawaii

Which CPC Partners conserve Kakea Clermontia (Clermontia kakeana)?

Harold L. Lyon Arboretum

Not Sponsored

Conservation Actions

Assigned 07/05/21

CPC's Plant Sponsorship Program provides long term stewardship of rare plants in our National Collection. We are so grateful for all our donors who have made the Plant Sponsorship Program so successful. We are in the process of acknowledging all our wonderful plant sponsorship donors on our website. This is a work in progress and will be updated regularly.

Conservation Actions

Nathaniel Kingsley

12/02/2021

Jac Harvey is on her way to collect the fruits of Clermontia kakeana from Manoa Cliff Trail in the southern Koʻolau Mountains on the island of Oʻahu, Hawaiʻi. The showy flowers are greenish-white with dark purple interiors (anthers), and the large berries are a brilliant orange. These shrubs occur in mesic forests, occasionally on margins of wet forests on Oʻahu in the Waiʻanae Mountains and the Koʻolau Mountains, East Molokaʻi, and West Maui. The seeds were removed from the fruit by rubbing the fruits against a strainer in a bowl of water. Then, the seeds were pipetted out of the water and placed on a paper towel or coffee filter to dry. The seeds were then dried in preparation for long-term storage. The seeds usually germinate in 2 to 3 months. For this accession, only mature fruits were collected and the initial viability was 89%! Seeds of this species are storable for 20+ years and stored at 5ºC.

Center for Plant Conservation

08/18/2021

In 2021, CPC contracted the Harold L. Lyon Arboretum to recollect seed from a population currently held in long term orthodox seed storage as part of an IMLS-funded seed longevity experiment. The National Laboratory for Genetic Resources Preservation will evaluate how germination tested viability and RNA Integrity of seed lots decline over time in storage.