Image of Kauai delissea

Description:

This very rare plant is now extinct in the wild and is endemic only to Kauai. This endemic genus has 9 species, of which 7 are extinct and of the 2 extant, one exists on Kauai while the other is on Oahu. Delissea is one of 6 genera (5 endemic) and around 125 endemic species which are collectively known as the Hawaiian Lobeliads. This incredible example of adaptive radiation is genetically traced to a single colonization 13+ million years ago (Givnish, Sytsma, et. al., Proc. Biol. Sci., Feb 7, 2009;276).