Cyanea pinnatifida is a rare species of flowering plant in the bellflower family

Campanulaceae

The family Campanulaceae , of the order Asterales, contains about 2000 species in 70 genera of herbaceous plants, shrubs, and rarely small trees, often with milky non-toxic sap...

 known by the common name sharktail cyanea. It is endemic to Oahu

Oahu

Oahu or Oahu , known as "The Gathering Place", is the third largest of the Hawaiian Islands and most populous of the islands in the U.S. state of Hawaii. The state capital Honolulu is located on the southeast coast...

, but it is now extinct in the wild and only exists in cultivation. Like other Cyanea

Cyanea (plant)

Cyanea is a genus of lobelioid plants endemic to Hawaii. It contains more than 50 species, ranging in size from shrubs like C. eleeleensis to tall palm-like trees over 10 meters tall such as C. leptostegia...

it is known as haha in Hawaiian

Hawaiian language

The Hawaiian language is a Polynesian language that takes its name from Hawaii, the largest island in the tropical North Pacific archipelago where it developed. Hawaiian, along with English, is an official language of the state of Hawaii...

.

At the time this plant was federally listed as an endangered species

Endangered species

An endangered species is a population of organisms which is at risk of becoming extinct because it is either few in numbers, or threatened by changing environmental or predation parameters...

 in 1991 there was only one individual left. It grew in the Waianae Mountains

Waianae Range

Waianae Range is the eroded remains of an ancient shield volcano that comprises the western half of the Hawaiian Island of Oahu...

 of Oahu until 2001, when it died. Now some plants are kept at the Lyon Arboretum

Lyon Arboretum

The Harold L. Lyon Arboretum is a arboretum and botanical garden managed by the University of Hawaii at Mānoa located at the upper end of Mānoa Valley in Hawaii....

 in Honolulu and a few juveniles have been planted in appropriate habitat. No recruitment

Recruitment (biology)

In biology, recruitment occurs when juvenile organisms survive to be added to a population. The term is generally used to refer to a stage whereby the organisms are settled and able to be detected by an observer....

 has occurred among these, however, and the plant is still considered extinct in the wild.

This Hawaiian lobelioid

Hawaiian lobelioids

The Hawaiian lobelioids are a group of flowering plants in the bellflower family, Campanulaceae, 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...

 is a shrub

Shrub

A shrub or bush is distinguished from a tree by its multiple stems and shorter height, usually under 5–6 m tall. A large number of plants may become either shrubs or trees, depending on the growing conditions they experience...

 which can reach ten feet in height. The leaves are divided into a few deep lobes. The inflorescence

Inflorescence

An inflorescence is a group or cluster of flowers arranged on a stem that is composed of a main branch or a complicated arrangement of branches. Strictly, it is the part of the shoot of seed plants where flowers are formed and which is accordingly modified...

 produces up to 15 green-tinged white flowers with purple stripes. Little is known about the life history of the plant because so few individuals have been known to science..

The plant was driven to extinction by the destruction and degradation of its habitat by several forces. The most destructive was the feral pig. Others included exotic plant species

Introduced species

An introduced species — or neozoon, alien, exotic, non-indigenous, or non-native species, or simply an introduction, is a species living outside its indigenous or native distributional range, and has arrived in an ecosystem or plant community by human activity, either deliberate or accidental...

, such as Koster's curse

Clidemia hirta

Clidemia hirta, commonly called soapbush or Koster's Curse, is a perennial shrub.It is an invasive plant species in many tropical regions of the world, creating serious damage.-Distribution:...

 (Clidemia hirta) and passionflower

Passiflora suberosa

Passiflora suberosa is a species of passion flower that is native to the Americas. Its range stretches from Florida and the Lower Rio Grande Valley of Texas in the United States south through Mexico, Central America, and the Caribbean to South America. It is commonly known as Corky-stemmed Passion...

 (Passiflora suberosa). Rat

Rat

Rats are various medium-sized, long-tailed rodents of the superfamily Muroidea. "True rats" are members of the genus Rattus, the most important of which to humans are the black rat, Rattus rattus, and the brown rat, Rattus norvegicus...

s and slug

Slug

Slug is a common name that is normally applied to any gastropod mollusc that lacks a shell, has a very reduced shell, or has a small internal shell...

s, which are very damaging to many Cyanea species, may have affected this one as well.