Lobelia yuccoides

• Hawaiian name: Panaunau
• Conservation status: Rare
• Distribution: O’ahu (Wai’anae Mountains)
• Date photographed: 3/19/2015
• *Identification: : Form– Stems woody, erect, 15-20 dm long, with dense apical rosette of leaves Leaves– linear, 24-35 cm long, 0.5-1.5 cm wide, lower surface white tomentose. Flower– calyx lobes subulate, 3-6 mm long; corolla blue to lilac, 36-40 mm long, 3-5 mm wide, lobes spirally revolute.
• Phylogenetic comments: 2022 update — L. yuccoides on O’ahu is possibly distinct from L. yuccoides on Kaua’i. The O’ahu taxa might be of hybrid origin between the Kaua’i taxa and something within the Lobelia niihauensis group.
• My notes: I’ve only ever come across this taxa in the southern Wai’anae mtns. I have yet to see it in a reproductive state; the dense central stalk of flowers would be quite the impressive sight!

*From Manual of the Flowering Plants of Hawai’i