For over a thousand years and many generations, Native Hawaiians have tended a relationship with Ka Palupalu o Kanaloa—a plant that, based on the pollen record, was once widespread across Hawaiʻi.
Artwork by Julian Hume
Disappearance
Ka Palupalu o Kanaloa disappeared from the pollen record around the 16th century. Fossil pollen was discovered in core samples extracted from lowland sites on Oʻahu dating back to the early Pleistocene era.
Rediscovery
In 1992, botanists Ken Wood and Steve Perlman of the National Tropical Botanical Garden rediscovered this plant—a new genus in Hawaiʻi—on an islet off Kahoʻolawe. The pollen of the live plants matched fossil pollen that had previously been unidentified.
Conservation Attempts
For over 25 years, conservation organizations attempted to propagate Ka Palupalu o Kanaloa. Despite tremendous effort, success remained elusive.
On the brink
By 2015, both wild plants had died. In 2020 the two remaining plants in cultivation, the only ones on Earth, bloomed simultaneously. One produced seeds.
Resurgence
Today, through the efforts of the Ka Palupalu o Kanaloa hui and many hands, the total population of this plant is around 20. Our vision is to restore ka palupalu o Kanaloa to Kahoʻolawe and across the places it once grew.
