{"id":511065,"date":"2026-01-12T15:00:19","date_gmt":"2026-01-12T15:00:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/511065\/"},"modified":"2026-01-12T15:00:19","modified_gmt":"2026-01-12T15:00:19","slug":"new-botany-checklist-maps-past-present-and-future-of-hawai%ca%bbis-native-and-invasive-plants-big-island-now","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/511065\/","title":{"rendered":"New Botany Checklist maps past, present and future of Hawai\u02bbi\u2019s native and invasive plants : Big Island Now"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.bishopmuseum.org\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">Bishop Museum<\/a><\/strong> is offering an updated Botany Checklist of native and non-native plants of the islands \u2014 alive and extinct \u2014 as a free resource to the public.<\/p>\n<p>The checklist of native and naturalized vascular plants in Hawai\u02bbi \u2014 compiled by botany researchers and technicians from the museum\u2019s Natural Sciences Department \u2014 can be accessed and downloaded at the <strong><a href=\"http:\/\/PlantsOfHawaii.org\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">Plants of Hawai\u02bbi website<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/cdn.bigislandnow.com\/file\/bigislandnow\/2026\/01\/Bishop-Museum-Plants-of-Hawaii-new-checklist-1-11-26-BIN-feature-pic.jpg\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\"><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"576\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/Bishop-Museum-Plants-of-Hawaii-new-checklist-1-11-26-BIN-feature-pic-1024x576.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-421037\"\/><\/a>Screenshot of image from the Plants of Hawai\u2018i website<\/p>\n<p>The state\u2019s museum of natural and cultural history checklist features up-to-date information about all 3,133 plants found in the islands from H\u014dlanik\u016b, also known as Kure Atoll, to Hawai\u2018i Island.<\/p>\n<p>It provides science-based information for naturalists, land managers, field biologists, scientists and anyone who seeks to understand the biogeography of the Hawaiian Islands.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe\u2019re offering the Botany Checklist as a free resource to share our data with researchers and citizen scientists alike, with the ultimate goal of bringing more awareness to our islands\u2019 precious biodiversity,\u201d said Bishop Museum Botany Research Specialist Miles Thomas in an announcement about the new checklist.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Notable findings from the November 2025 checklist include:<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>68% of native species have Hawaiian names recorded.<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>Invasive species have been successfully eradicated 66 times from a full island.<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>Grasses are the most diverse family in the checklist but are largely non-native or invasive.<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>Lobeliods \u2014 including h\u0101h\u0101, koli\u2018i, \u2018\u014dh\u0101 wai and \u2018\u014dlulu \u2014 are the most diverse native family, with Cyanea being the largest endemic genus of plants in Hawai\u02bbi.<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><b>ARTICLE CONTINUES BELOW AD<\/b><b>ARTICLE CONTINUES BELOW AD<\/b><\/p>\n<p>Common names, whether it is native or invasive, conservation statuses and list of islands where it is found are provided for each species.<\/p>\n<p>This is the first checklist to also have extirpation, or local extinction, statuses at an island level \u2014 for example, a species that is still present on Kaua\u2018i but no longer known to live on O\u2018ahu.<\/p>\n<p>Bishop Museum found an average of 60 native species are extirpated from each of the main Hawaiian Islands, with L\u0101na\u2018i being especially affected with 151 known species now having disappeared from the island.<\/p>\n<p>Hawai\u02bbi\u2019s endemism rate \u2014 of plants unique to Hawai\u02bbi and found nowhere else \u2014 is 90%, among the highest in the world.<\/p>\n<p>Kaua\u02bbi has the most endemic plants with 567 followed by:<\/p>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong> Maui:<\/strong> 565.<\/li>\n<li><strong>O\u02bbahu:<\/strong> 514.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Hawai\u02bbi Island:<\/strong> 432.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Moloka\u02bbi:<\/strong> 402.<\/li>\n<li><strong>L\u0101na\u02bbi:<\/strong> 282.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Ni\u02bbihau:<\/strong> 50.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Kaho\u02bbolawe:<\/strong> 43.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/cdn.bigislandnow.com\/file\/bigislandnow\/2024\/08\/rare-native-plants-featured.jpg\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"576\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/rare-native-plants-featured-1024x576.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-379005\"\/><\/a>Rare Hawaiian plant Cyanea crispa. The plant\u2019s common names are crimped rollandia or Ko\u02bbolau Range rollandia. It is endemic to O\u02bbahu, where there are no more than 50 individuals left in the Ko\u02bbolau Range. (Photo Courtesy: Hawai\u02bbi Department of Land and Natural Resources) <\/p>\n<p><b>ARTICLE CONTINUES BELOW AD<\/b><\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhile this high number of endemic plants makes Hawai\u02bbi a truly unique place, it also means many of these plants are highly vulnerable, as they have not adapted to current threats facing the Hawaiian landscape such as invasive species, human impact and shifts in climate,\u201d Thomas said.<\/p>\n<p>The museum recorded 139 endemic plants that are now extinct or extinct in the wild, with hundreds more in danger of dying out.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAs the so-called \u2018extinction capital of the world,\u2019 it\u2019s extremely alarming how many native species we lose every year,\u201d Thomas added.<\/p>\n<p>Non-native species now outnumber native plants, with 55% of all flora in the checklist non-native.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNew endemic species have been discovered at approximately 2.4 per year over the past 30 years, and are generally decelerating as we run out of new habitat to survey,\u201d said Bishop Museum Invasive Species Program Manager Kevin Faccenda in the checklist announcement. \u201cOn the other hand, new non-native, naturalized species have been discovered at 13.9 per year over the past 30 years and show no signs of decelerating.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><b>ARTICLE CONTINUES BELOW AD<\/b><\/p>\n<p>That means the state\u2019s flora is changing at an alarming rate \u2014 changing toward an alien-dominated landscape that threatens the endemic biodiversity of the islands, greatly impacting their natural and cultural history.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNative ecosystems provide us with immeasurable benefits such as food, fiber and drinking water, in addition to their natural beauty,\u201d Thomas said.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/fireweed-UH.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2400\" height=\"1798\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/fireweed-UH.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-421046\"\/><\/a>Invasive fireweed plant. (Image Courtesy: University of Hawai\u02bbi)<\/p>\n<p>The checklist was created and is regularly updated under the Hawai\u02bbi Biological Survey, a Bishop Museum program established in 1992 by Hawai\u02bbi Legislature to maintain comprehensive records of the state\u2019s plants, animals and fungi.<\/p>\n<p>It is updated based on the museum\u2019s natural history collection, specifically Botany\u2019s Herbarium Pacificum, which contains the largest and most comprehensive collection of Hawaiian and tropical Pacific Island plant specimens in the world, including more than 157,000 from Hawai\u02bbi.<\/p>\n<p>Nearly every record in the checklist has a specimen in the herbarium, which allows the botany staff to confirm identifications and other data.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe hope that our global community can use the checklist to learn more about the plants of Hawai\u02bbi and the habitats they reside in,\u201d Thomas said. \u201cThe more we all learn about our \u02bb\u0101ina and the living beings that reside on them, the more we can care for and preserve them for generations to come.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The checklist is available for public download at the <strong><a href=\"http:\/\/PlantsOfHawaii.org\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">Plants of Hawai\u02bbi website<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Bishop Museum is offering an updated Botany Checklist of native and non-native plants of the islands \u2014 alive&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":511066,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[23],"tags":[228505,228506,228507,14887,14888,228508,228509,228510,746,39001,48176,228511,159,67,132,68],"class_list":["post-511065","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-environment","tag-3133-plants-found-in-islands-from-kure-atoll-to-hawaii-island","tag-alive-and-extinct","tag-available-for-public-download","tag-big-island-news","tag-big-island-now","tag-bishop-museum","tag-botany-checklist","tag-compiled-by-botany-researchers-and-technicians","tag-environment","tag-free-resource","tag-hawaii-news","tag-maps-past-present-and-future-of-hawaii","tag-science","tag-united-states","tag-unitedstates","tag-us"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115882729423897201","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/511065","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=511065"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/511065\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/511066"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=511065"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=511065"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=511065"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}