Home > Plants > Asteraceae > Argyroxiphium sandwicense subsp. macrocephalum

Updated 1/15/2014

Family Asteraceae

HAWAII - ENDEMIC

Argyroxiphium sandwicense subsp. macrocephalum

Haleakala NP, Maui

cropped

HALEAKALA SILVERSWORD    'AHINAHINA

Scattered on cinder in alpine zone of Haleakala on Maui.  Narrow leaves' silver hairs reflect UV radiation and gel-filled core stores moisture.  Blooms once then dies.  Threatened with extinction due to grazing, habitat alteration, trampling of delicate root system, and loss of natural pollinators.  Endangered subspecies sandwicense occurs as a single population on Mauna Kea, Hawaii.  Flowers in each subspecies differ substantially.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Argyroxiphium

http://waynesword.palomar.edu/ww0903b.htm