Maui Nui Botanical Gardens Bringing Kanaloa to Light

The Maui Nui Botanical Gardens is working to construct planters and a public interpretive display in Kahului surrounding a critically endangered plant from Kahoʻolawe called Kanaloa kahoolawensis (Ka Palupalu o
Kanaloa). The purpose of this effort, which involves partners on Maui and throughout the state, is to nurture new seedlings — marking the first successful increase in the population of this endemic species since its discovery in 1994.

Now extinct in the wild, the seedlings represent a rare opportunity to increase genetic diversity enough that the population may recover as a wild species. Plants will be established at Maui Nui Botanical Gardens, Olinda Rare Plant Facility, and National Tropical Botanical Garden’s Kahanu Garden in Hāna. Learn more about Maui Nui Botanical Gardens’ seed banking efforts here.