Description

Key Characters:

Growth Form: Plants 2–4 m tall.

Stems: Stems 1–2.5 m tall x 1–10 cm diam., leaf scars 3–5 mm tall x 4.5–9 mm wide, depressed obtrullate or depressed obovate, the corners rounded.

Roots:

Leaves: Leaves simple. Alternate. Blades linear, oblanceolate, or narrowly elliptic, 17–37 cm long x 1–3.3 cm wide. Apex acuminate. Base attenuate. Surfaces glabrous. Margins subrevolute. Sessile. Stipules absent.

Flowers: Flowers in inflorescence 1.5–2.5 m tall, 2–5–branched (rarely unbranched in small plants), each branch 20–85–flowered and cylindrical in outline, its axis blackish purple, glabrous; peduncle sparsely covered with sterile bracts that rapidly decrease in size acropetally: sterile bracts 12–160 mm long x 4–22 mm wide, linear, narrowly elliptic, or lanceolate, the apex acuminate, the base cuneate: floral bracts 16–27 mm long x 3–7.5 mm wide, narrowly elliptic, narrowly oblong, or lanceolate, the apex acute or obtuse and sometimes apiculate, the base cuneate; pedicels 17–35 mm long, of more–or-less equal length throughout; hypanthium 5–9 mm long x 8–14 mm diam. broadly obconic or rarely almost hemispherical, 1/8–1/12 as long as the corolla, glabrous. Flowers bisexual (perfect); hypanthium 5–9 mm long x 8–14 mm diam. broadly obconic or rarely almost hemispherical, 1/8–1/12 as long as the corolla, glabrous. Calyx 5-lobed, lobes 9–15 mm long x 3–6.5 mm wide, triangular, narrowly oblong, or lanceolate, equaling to 3 times longer than the hypanthium, the margin entire, the apex acuminate or acute (rarely obtuse) and sometimes apiculate, sepals connate, tube adnate to ovary. Corolla zygomorphic, dorsally cleft almost to base, 53-75 mm long, pale purple with dark purple longitudinal stripes, glabrous; tube 18-28 mm long x 6-10 mm diam. at middle, suberect or slightly curved, expanding slightly towards the mouth, 2-4.5 times longer than broad; dorsal lobes 30-48 mm long x 3-5 mm wide, 1.3-2.2 times as long as the tube; ventral lip 25-38 mm long x 11-18 mm wide. Stamens 5, alternate with corolla lobes; anthers with apical tufts of white hairs on all 5, dithecal, opening by longitudinal slits, coherent but separating after anthesis or connate and forming a tube into which pollen is shed; filaments distinct or connate above, attached to the epigynous nectary disk or to base of corolla, rarely adnate to corolla tube; filament tube 57–65 mm long, decurved slightly, 4–5 times longer than anther tube, glabrous; anther tube 4–5 mm dlam; dorsal anthers 12–16 mm long; ventral anthers 9–12 mm long. Ovary inferior, 2-celled, often crowned with an annular nectary disk; ovule placentation axile, or when 1-celled with 2 parietal placentas; stigmas wet or dry, 2-lobed, appressed and nonreceptive as the style grows through the anther tube, pushing out the pollen, after which the stigmas spread apart and become receptive.

Fruit: Loculicidal capsules; 20–28 mm long x 10–14 mm dlam.; dehiscent at apex by 2 valves. Seeds numerous; with a straight; short to spatulate dicotyledonous embryo embedded in oily endosperm; 1.7––2.5 mm long x 0.6–1.4 mm wide; honey– or chestnut–brown.

Ploidy:

Habitat: Known primarily from the lowland wet mixed communities; also found in the unique montane wet mixed community of the summit bog on Wai‘aleale.

Elevation Range: 570–800 m. (Wahiawa Stream, west of Kahili); 1100–1590 m. (summit of Wai‘aleale bog)