Schiedea kauaiensis is a rare species of flowering plant in the pink family

Caryophyllaceae

The Caryophyllaceae, commonly called the pink family or carnation family, is a family of flowering plants. It is included in the dicotyledon order Caryophyllales in the APG III system, alongside 33 other families, including Amaranthaceae, Cactaceae and Polygonaceae...

 known by the common name Kauai schiedea. It is endemic to Hawaii

Hawaii

Hawaii is the newest of the 50 U.S. states , and is the only U.S. state made up entirely of islands. It is the northernmost island group in Polynesia, occupying most of an archipelago in the central Pacific Ocean, southwest of the continental United States, southeast of Japan, and northeast of...

, where it is known only from the island of Kauai

Kauai

Kauai or Kauai, known as Tauai in the ancient Kaua'i dialect, is geologically the oldest of the main Hawaiian Islands. With an area of , it is the fourth largest of the main islands in the Hawaiian archipelago, and the 21st largest island in the United States. Known also as the "Garden Isle",...

. It is threatened by the degradation and destruction of its habitat. It 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...

 of the United States in 1996.

This plant is a subshrub

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...

 with branches up to 1.5 meters long. The oppositely arranged leaves have green or purplish blades up to 13 centimeters long by 3.5 wide. 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...

 is a hairy cluster of flowers with small green or purple-tinged sepal

Sepal

A sepal is a part of the flower of angiosperms . Collectively the sepals form the calyx, which is the outermost whorl of parts that form a flower. Usually green, sepals have the typical function of protecting the petals when the flower is in bud...

s and no petals.

This plant is now limited to two populations on the island of Kauai, totalling only 12 individuals. Before these populations were located the plant had been feared extinct

Extinction

In biology and ecology, extinction is the end of an organism or of a group of organisms , normally a species. The moment of extinction is generally considered to be the death of the last individual of the species, although the capacity to breed and recover may have been lost before this point...

. Threats to the species include habitat degradation by feral pigs and introduced 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...

 of plants such as Ageratina riparia (Hamakua pamakani), Clidemia hirta

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:...

(Koster's curse), Clusia rosea (autograph tree), Erigeron karvinskianus

Erigeron karvinskianus

Erigeron karvinskianus is a species of flowering plant in the daisy family known by the common name Latin American fleabane, though some know it as the Santa Barbara daisy....

(daisy fleabane), Lantana camara

Lantana camara

Lantana camara, also known as Spanish Flag or West Indian Lantana, is a species of flowering plant in the verbena family, Verbenaceae, that is native to the American tropics. It has been introduced into other parts of the world as an ornamental plant and is considered an invasive species in many...

(lantana), Psidium guajava

Psidium guajava

The apple guava or common guava is an evergreen shrub or small tree native to Mexico, the Caribbean, and Central and South America...

(common guava), Schefflera actinophylla

Schefflera actinophylla

Schefflera actinophylla is a tree in the Araliaceae family. It is native to tropical rainforests and gallery forests in Australia , New Guinea and Java. Common names include Umbrella Tree, Octopus Tree and Amate.-Description:S...

(octopus tree), Schinus terebinthifolius (Christmasberry), Rubus rosifolius

Rubus rosifolius

Rubus rosifolius, also known as roseleaf bramble, West Indian raspberry, thimbleberry and ola'a...

(thimbleberry), Passiflora mollissima (banana poka), Rubus argutus (prickly Florida blackberry), Drymaria cordata (Pipili), and Paspalum conjugatum (Hilo grass).