The nene, also known as the nēnē or the Hawaiian goose, is a species of bird endemic to the Hawaiian Islands. The nene is exclusively found in the wild on the islands of Oahu, Maui, Kauaʻi, Molokai, and Hawaiʻi. In 1957, it was designated as the official state bird of the state of Hawaiʻi.
Kahoʻolawe, anglicized as Kahoolawe, is the smallest of the eight main volcanic islands of the Hawaiian Islands. Unpopulated, it lies about seven miles (11 km) southwest of Maui. The island is 11 mi (18 km) long by 6.0 mi (9.7 km) wide, with a total land area of 44.97 sq mi (116.47 km2). Its highest point is the crater of Lua Makika, at the summit of Puʻu Moaulanui, about 1,477 feet (450 m) above sea level.
Located about 2,300 miles (3,680 km) from the nearest continental shore, the Hawaiian Islands are the most isolated group of islands on the planet. The plant and animal life of the Hawaiian archipelago is the result of early, very infrequent colonizations of arriving species and the slow evolution of those species—in isolation from the rest of the world's flora and fauna—over a period of at least 5 million years. As a consequence, Hawai'i is home to a large number of endemic species. The radiation of species described by Charles Darwin in the Galapagos Islands which was critical to the formulation of his theory of evolution is far exceeded in the more isolated Hawaiian Islands.
The genus Pritchardia consists of between 24 and 40 species of fan palms found on tropical Pacific Ocean islands in Fiji, Samoa, Tonga, Tuamotus, and most diversely in Hawaii. The generic name honors William Thomas Pritchard (1829-1907), a British consul at Fiji.
Maui Nui is a modern geologists' name given to a prehistoric Hawaiian island and the corresponding modern biogeographic region. Maui Nui is composed of four modern islands: Maui, Molokaʻi, Lānaʻi, and Kahoʻolawe. Administratively, the four modern islands comprise Maui County. Long after the breakup of Maui Nui, the four modern islands retained plant and animal life similar to each other. Thus, Maui Nui is not only a prehistoric island but also a modern biogeographic region.
Ahupuaʻa is a Hawaiian term for a large traditional socioeconomic, geologic, and climatic subdivision of land. It usually extends from the mountains to the sea and generally includes one or more complete watersheds and marine resources. The predominant traditional system in the eight high islands of the main Hawaiian Islands was based on the ahupuaʻa. Each ahupua‘a contained a cross section of island resources and they were managed within a complex social system associated with each area. The general belief is that each ahupua‘a met the needs of the local population, with excess for tribute and trade.
The Hawaiian lobelioids are a group of flowering plants in the bellflower family, Campanulaceae, subfamily Lobelioideae, all of which are endemic to the Hawaiian Islands. This is the largest plant radiation in the Hawaiian Islands, and indeed the largest on any island archipelago, with over 125 species. The six genera involved can be broadly separated based on growth habit: Clermontia are typically branched shrubs or small trees, up to 7 metres (23 ft) tall, with fleshy fruits; Cyanea and Delissea are typically unbranched or branching only at the base, with a cluster of relatively broad leaves at the apex and fleshy fruits; Lobelia and Trematolobelia have long thin leaves down a single, non-woody stem and capsular fruits with wind-dispersed seeds; and the peculiar Brighamia have a short, thick stem with a dense cluster of broad leaves, elongate white flowers, and capsular fruits. The relationships among the genera and sections remains unsettled as of April 2022.
Wikstroemia is a genus of 93 species of flowering shrubs and small trees in the mezereon family, Thymelaeaceae. Hawaiian species are known by the common name ‘ākia.
Tetraplasandra is a no longer recognised genus of plants in the ivy family, Araliaceae. They are small to medium trees, of mesic to wet forests.
Wikstroemia oahuensis, the ʻĀkia or Oʻahu false ohelo, is a species of flowering shrub in the mezereon family, Thymelaeaceae, that is endemic to Hawaiʻi.
Mezoneuron kauaiense is a rare shrub or small tree in the genus Mezoneuron, that is endemic to Hawaii. Common names include uhiuhi, kāwaʻu (Maui), and kea (Maui). It is threatened by invasive species, particularly feral ungulates.
Alectryon macrococcus, known as ʻAlaʻalahua or Māhoe in Hawaiian, is a slow-growing flowering tree in the soapberry family, Sapindaceae, that is endemic but manifests rarely in mesic forests of Kauai, Oahu, Molokai, and Maui Hawaii. The tree grows to a maximal height of about 10 meters with leaves 3 to 30 cm long with two to five pairs of elliptic pinnae. The pinnae are smooth, glossy and net-veined, 4 to 10 inches long and 2 to 5 inches. Fruits are from 1 to 3 inches in diameter with a single black seed embedded in a red, fleshy aril.
The scissor-billed koa finch or scissor finch is an extinct species of Hawaiian honeycreeper in the subfamily Carduelinae of the family Fringillidae. It is known from fossils on the islands of Maui and Kauaʻi in Hawaii.
The primitive koa finch is an extinct species of Hawaiian honeycreeper in the subfamily Carduelinae of the family Fringillidae. It is known from fossils on the islands of Maui and Oʻahu in Hawaii.
Hawaiian honeycreepers are a group of small birds endemic to Hawaiʻi. They are members of the finch family Fringillidae, closely related to the rosefinches (Carpodacus), but many species have evolved features unlike those present in any other finch. Their great morphological diversity is the result of adaptive radiation in an insular environment. Many have been driven to extinction since the first humans arrived in Hawaii, with extinctions increasing over the last two centuries following European discovery of the islands, with habitat destruction and especially invasive species being the main causes.
Hawaiian tropical dry forests are a tropical dry broadleaf forest ecoregion in the Hawaiian Islands. They cover an area of 6,600 km2 (2,500 sq mi) on the leeward side of the main islands and the summits of Niʻihau and Kahoʻolawe. These forests are either seasonal or sclerophyllous. Annual rainfall is less than 127 cm (50 in) and may be as low as 25 cm (9.8 in). The rainy season there lasts from November to March.
Udara blackburni, the Koa butterfly, is a butterfly in the family Lycaenidae that is endemic to Hawaiʻi. It is also known as Blackburn's butterfly, Blackburn's bluet, Hawaiian blue or green Hawaiian blue.
Xerocladia viridiramis is a species of plant in the legume family (Fabaceae). It is the sole species in the monotypic genus Xerocladia.
