Cyanea arborea

• Conservation Status: Extinct
• Distribution: East Maui
• Date photographed: ?? (J.F. Rock)
• *Identification: Form– Palm-like trees 4-8 m tall. Leaves– oblanceolate; blades 65-90 cm long by 6-12 cm wide; margins minutely callose-denticulate; sessile. Flower– hypanthium obovoid, 8-12 mm long; calyx lobes dentiform, 0.5-1mm long; corolla cream tinged with pale lilac, 40-50 mm long, 3-5 mm wide.
• My notes: Here is another of the extinct lobeliads that we have some in-situ photos of. C. arborea was a striking plant from the leeward slopes of Haleakala. Unfortunately this area has seen extensive damage from non-native grazers and browsers. This species was last collected in 1928.
• Links: A Monographic study of the Hawaiian species of the tribe Lobelioideae family Campanulaceae, The Indigenous Trees of the Hawaiian Islands

*From Manual of the Flowering Plants of Hawai’i