Brighamia insignis f. citrina C.N.Forbes & Lydgate
Brighamia insignis, commonly known as ʻŌluluorAlulainHawaiian,[3] or colloquially as the vulcan palm[4]orcabbage on a stick,[5] is a species of Hawaiian lobelioid in the bellflower family, Campanulaceae. It is native to the islands of Kauaʻi and Niʻihau, but has been extinct in the wild since at least 2019-2020. This short-lived perennial species is a member of a unique endemic Hawaiian genus with only one other species.
Brighamia insignis is a potentially branched plant with a succulentstem that is bulbous at the bottom and tapers toward the top, ending in a compact rosette of fleshy leaves. The stem is usually 1–2 m (3–7 ft) in height, but can reach 5 m (16 ft).[6] The plant blooms in September through November.[7] It has clusters of fragrant yellow flowers in groups of three to eight in the leaf axils. The scent has been compared to honeysuckle.[7]Petals are fused into a tube 7 to 14 cm (3 to 5+1⁄2in) long. The fruit is a capsule 13 to 19 mm (1⁄2to3⁄4in) long containing numerous seeds.[8]
B. insignis is now extinct in the wild, having been in decline for many years. In 1994, the United States Fish and Wildlife Service reported five populations totaling 45 to 65 individuals, and listed the plant as an endangered species. The last single individual was recorded in the wild in August 2012, and drone surveys in June 2019 and May 2020 found that it, too, had disappeared.[1]
According to the U.S. Botanic Garden, its only pollinator was a certain type of now-extinct hawk moth. This has made it all but impossible for B. insignis to reproduce on its own.[9] Therefore, individuals only produce seed when artificially pollinated by humans.[10]
Other threats to the species have included exotic plant species, feral goats and pigs, slugs, rats, fire, and infestations of carmine spider mites (Tetranychus cinnabarinus).[11][12] There is also a hiking trail near one of the populations.[11] The plant grows on steep, exposed cliffs and has been damaged by hurricanes and landslides;[12] in 1992, the remaining populations on the southeastern coast of Kauaʻi were wiped out by Hurricane Iniki, leaving only the populations on the island's north coast (which themselves continued to decline thereafter).[1]
^ ab"Brighamia insignis". CPC National Collection Plant Profiles. Center for Plant Conservation. 22 July 2008. Archived from the original on 28 October 2010. Retrieved 15 November 2009.
^"Alula, Olulu"(PDF). Hawaii's Species of Greatest Conservation Need: Process and SGCN Fact Sheets. Hawaii Department of Fish and Wildlife. Archived from the original(PDF) on 26 September 2007. Retrieved 10 December 2008.
