From Plant Press Vol. 16 no. 2
Botanical treasure number 4 is a rare and possibly extinct species from Hawaii.
Hibiscadelphus woodii Lorence & W.L. Wagner was first collected in 1991 by Ken Wood (National Tropical Botanical Garden) on this island of Kaua`i and described by Dave Lorence (NTBG) and Warren Wagner (Smithsonian Institution). With only 4 individuals in the original population, this rare species is now believed to be extinct, but remains listed as critically endangered by the IUCN Red List and endangered by the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service. Efforts to propagate the species have also been unsuccessful. The genus Hibiscadelphus consists of seven species endemic to the Hawaiian Islands. Due to the destruction and severe alteration of the diverse dry and mesic forest habitats and loss of all of the Meliphagid birds in the Hawaiian Islands, six of the seven Hibiscadelphus species have apparently gone extinct in the wild, although at least two of these are maintained through cultivation. The status of the entire genus is extremely precarious at present. The US Type Herbarium has isotype collections of three of the six extinct species: Hibiscadelphus giffardianus (US 691067 & 691068), H. wilderianus (US1627175), and H. woodii (US 3313194).
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