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Conserving and restoring
America's native plants |
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CPC National Collection Plant Profile
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Pritchardia affinis
| Family: |
Arecaceae (Palm Family) |
| Common Names: |
Hawaiian fan palm, loulu |
| Taxon Synonyms: |
Pritchardia affinis var. gracilis, Pritchardia affinis var. halophila, Pritchardia affinis var. rhopalocarpa |
| Author: |
Becc. |
| Growth
Habit: |
Tree |
| CPC
Number: |
9744 |
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| Photographer:
Peter Van Dyke |
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| Photographer:
Peter Van Dyke |
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| Primary
custodian for this plant in the CPC National Collection of Endangered
Plants is: |
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| Peter Van Dyke contributed to this Plant Profile. |
Pritchardia affinis
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A fine looking, long-lived palm at 10-25 m (33-82 ft) tall, P. affinis is often used as a landscape specimen on the west side of Hawai'i Island. It is one of 19 native species of the fan palm genus Pritchardia, distinguished by undulating, pale green and often yellowing blades and almost round black fruits 2-3 cm in diameter. The leaf blades were used for thatching in old Hawai'i, the wood for spears, and the seeds were eaten. In the 19th century, people began making hats from the blades, and old trees are often marked with foot holds cut into the trunks to make harvesting the leaves easier.
Many of the remaining individuals of the extremely rare species are located in areas that are highly valued for development. Loulu is endemic to South Kona and is now only found on the island of Hawaii where native people likely planted them. This species is known to have come to the island at least 40,000 years ago probably by the rafting of entire individuals across the ocean. It is thought that these palms grew in extensive groves surrounding many of Hawaii’s islands before the Polynesians brought the pig and the Polynesian rat. In 1970 a horticulturalist, Norman Bezona, was hired by a resort developer to provide plants for landscaping. Mr. Bezona chose to utilize native species for the project and began a massive cultivation project to produce Loulus for use at the resort. He collected 4,000 seeds, sent half of them to Fairchild Tropical Garden in Florida and began germinate the remaining seeds. These plants were then transplanted near the Black Sand Beach of Ka’u’. (Bezona 1974)
| Distribution
& Occurrence |
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State Range
Habitat
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The species' natural habitat is unknown. It likely was cultivated by Hawaiians prior to western contact, and it is still planted today. This species is currently found on the leeward side of the Island of Hawaii in inhabited or abandoned Hawaiian coastal settlements and occasionally inland mesic gulches at 0-600 m (0-2000 ft) in elevation. (Wagner et al. 1999, USFWS 1994, and NatureServe Explorer 2002) |
Distribution
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Kohala mountains, southeastern and western coasts of Hawai'i Island. (Wagner et al. 1999) |
Number Left
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Seven populations containing 50-65 individuals total are known in the wild. These plants are located on both private and state owned land. (Breugmann 1997 and USFWS 1994) However, since this species is easily cultivated, and may even have been cultivated in traditional Hawai'i, it is difficult to distinguish remnants of truly wild populations from cultivated plants. |
State/Area
Protection
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State/Area |
Rank |
Status |
Date |
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Hawaii |
SH |
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4/11/2002 |
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| Conservation,
Ecology & Research |
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Ecological
Relationships
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According to pollen cores from before 1210 B.C. to 1565 A.D., Pritchardia sp. may once have been codominant in certain lowland forests, along with Kanaloa kahoolawensis and Dodonaea viscosa., at which point K. kahoolawensis disappeared from the pollen record and D. viscosa and Pritchardia sp. declined dramatically (USFWS 1999). Now most P. affinis individuals grow in non-native dominated plant communities. |
Threats
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As stated by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS 1994 & 1996), threats include:
• Animals: Rats eat fruits and seeds. Feral pigs rood and destroy seedlings
• Weeds: The remaining trees are found in degraded habitats dominated by non-native plants, either cultivated or weeds. These plants compete for available resources and space.
• Fire: Many P. affinis usually occur in areas subject to seasonal drying near population centers.
• People: Many of the remaining individuals are in coastal land that is very desirable for development. Over-collection is also a possible threat
• Other: Pritchardia are susceptible to lethal yellow, a bacterial like organism that often attack palms. While Hawai'i does not have lethal yellow yet, it is a major potential threat. Rising sea levels also threaten near-shore individuals. |
Current Research Summary
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At Amy Greenwell Garden, fruit are collected from garden-grown plants and seeds are propagated to produce plants for restoration and replanting. P. affinis grows readily from seed, but seeds are not known to store well (Melany Chapin, pers. com. 2000) |
Current Management Summary
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Many old trees are found on private property, in yards and gardens, some neglected, others being watered and cared for.
Plants are being restored to areas within their former range at Hawai'i Volcanoes National Park, as part of a larger habitat restoration project. (Tom Belfield, pers. com. 2001) |
Research Management Needs
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• Fencing, fire breaks, and rat control are needed for unprotected plants.
• Efforts to prevent the spread of lethal yellow to Hawai'i must be developed and continued. |
Ex Situ Needs
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• Propagation and maintenance of ex situ plants should continue.
• More research is needed on long term seed storage techniques. |
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| Books (Single Authors)
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| Wagner, W.L.; Bruegmann, M.M.; Herbst, D.R; Lau, J.Q.C. 1999. Hawaiian Vascular Plants at Risk: 1999. Honolulu, HI: Bishop Museum Press Honolulu. |
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| Wagner, W.L.; Herbst, D.R.; Sohmer, S.H. 1999. Manual of the flowering plants of Hawai'i--Revised Edition. Honolulu, HI: University of Hawaii Press and Bishop Museum Press. 1853p. |
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| Books (Sections)
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| Kartesz, J.T. 1999. A synonymized checklist of the vascular flora of the U.S., Canada, and Greenland. In: Kartesz, J.T.; Meacham, C.A., editors. Synthesis of the North American Flora, Version 1.0. North Carolina Botanical Garden. Chapel Hill, NC. |
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| Electronic Sources
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| (2002). Hawaiian Native Plant Propagation Database. [Web-based, searchable database] College of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resources: University of Hawaii at Manoa. http://pdcs.ctahr.hawaii.edu:591/hawnprop/botlist.htm. Accessed: 2002. |
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| Yoshinaga, A. (2002). Seed storage characteristics of Hawaiian species. [Web site] University of Hawaii, Honolulu, Hawaii 96848. http://www.hawaii.edu/scb/seed/seedtabl.html. Accessed: 2002. |
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| Journal Articles
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| Beccari, O.; Rock, J.F. 1921. A monographic study of the genus Pritchardia. Mem. Bernice P. Bishop Mus. 8: 1-77. |
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| Bezona, N. 1974. Palm Briefs: The Propagation, Growth, and Distribution of Pritchardia affinis. Princeps. 18: 65-67. |
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| Hodel, D.R. 1980. Notes on Pritchardia in Hawaii. Princeps. 24, 2: 65-81. |
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| Hodel, D.R. 1982. Hal's last palms. Princeps. 26: 135-137. |
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| USFWS. 1994. Determination of Endangered or Threatened Status for 21 Plants from the Island of Hawaii, State of Hawaii. Federal Register. 59, 43: 10305-10325. |
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| USFWS. 1999. Final Endangered Status for 10 Plant Taxa From Maui Nui, HI. Federal Register. 64, 171: 48307-48324. |
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| USFWS. 2002. Designations of Critical Habitat for Plant Species From the Island of Hawaii, Hawaii. Federal Register. 67, 102: 36968-37016. |
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| Newspaper Articles
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| Bornhorst, H.L. 1995 Sunday, September 24, 1995. Grows best where seed comes from the same area. The Honolulu Advertiser; Honolulu, HI. |
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| Bornhorst, H.L. 1995 Sunday, September 24, 1995. Native fan palm unique to each island, valley. The Honolulu Advertiser; Honolulu, HI. |
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| Reports
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| Bruegmann, M.M. 1997. List of endangered, threatened, and candidate plants. U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Pacific Islands Ecoregion. |
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| USFWS. 1996. Big Island Plant Cluster Recovery Plan. Portland, Oregon: U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. p.202 +. |
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