Identification: : Form– Unarmed shrubs 2-4 m high, many branched from base with many basal shoots. Leaves– 19-30 x 5-7 cm, base attenuate to cuneate, apex attenuate to acuminate to cuspidate; petioles 5-10 cm long. Flower– calyx lobes 2-3 x .5-.7 mm lanceolate to linear; corolla white, tubular, gently curved to suberect, 28-35 x 3-4 mm
Phylogenetic comments:2022 update — C. kauaulaensis is nested with the orange-fruited glabra clade; within the clade it is currently thought to be related to a polytomy of species including C. profuga.
My notes: I went to the `ohi`a love fest a few months back and got to check out a seedling of a taxa that I had never seen before. C. kauaulaensis is one of several new taxa either discovered or described out of Maui in the past decade. The original discovery of the plants was thought to be a new population of the previously described C. glabra before later research made it clear that it was something distinct. It is always nice to see the hard work of the folks at PEPP in action. It pleases me that even to this day given all the history and research that has been done on our famed Hawaiian lobeliads, the family continues to surprise and enchant.
Studia Mirabilium 