Search / Plant Profile / Cyanea procera

Plant Profile

Molokai Cyanea (Cyanea procera)

Global Rank: G1 - Critically Imperiled
Legal Status: Federally Endangered
Family: Campanulaceae
State: HI
Nature Serve ID: 140844
Lifeform: Tree
Date Inducted in National Collection:

Description:

This palm-like Cyanea tree has purple curved tube-shaped flowers that mature into purple ellipse-shaped berries. Significantly larger than typical Cyanea species, C. procera can grow up to 9 meters tall and 3 meters in diameter.

Where is Molokai Cyanea (Cyanea procera) located in the wild?

Habitat:

This tree species is found in wet steep rock walls in wet forests.

Distribution:

Historically, it was found in montane wet forests in the Kamalo region of Moloka`i, but it is now only represented by one individual in the island's West Kawela area.

States & Provinces:

Molokai Cyanea can be found in Hawaii

Which CPC Partners conserve Molokai Cyanea (Cyanea procera)?

Harold L. Lyon Arboretum

Not Sponsored

Conservation Actions

Assigned 06/09/17

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

10/10/2020

Successful seedings were transferred to the Nature Conservancy's Kamakou Preserve and the oldest of them are producing fruit at 1.5 meters tall.

10/10/2020

10/10/2020

Clarice Mendoza

09/01/2017

Fruit collected after the pesticide treatment was taken the Harold L. Lyon Arboretum and the Department of Land and Natural Resource's Olinda Rare Plant Facility on Maui and planted in their nurseries. Successful seedings were transferred to the Nature Conservancy's Kamakou Preserve and the oldest of them are producing fruit at 1.5 meters tall.

Clarice Mendoza

09/01/2017

The Kamakou Preserve made attempts to collect ripe fruits from two Moloka`i Cyaneas and placed netting over flowers to prevent insects from eating them, but worms and mosquitoes still got to them. After one plant fell of the cliff it was rooted to, the other was sprayed with systematic insecticide that successfully worked on other Cyanea species. Flowers and fruit grew after this treatment.

Clarice Mendoza

09/01/2017

Threats to this species include invasive plant species competing for the limited resources in the area and habitat degradation from feral goats and pigs.

Nellie Sugii, Kahoali`i K. Keahi-Wood

07/15/2017

Threats include pigs, rats and naturally occurring events, such as landslides.

Nellie Sugii, Kahoali`i K. Keahi-Wood

07/15/2017

Located west of Kamalo, one population exists with only two individuals left. In Molokai, there are currently three known populations of this species with a total of eight individuals.