Paschalococos and the Disappearing Palms

(page 4)

Some painstaking cases of threatened palms are happening in Hawaii. The genus Pritchardia is represented in the Hawaiian Archipelago by 23 species.. A few of them are abundant in the wild and cultivated in gardens but most are severely endangered, mostly threatened by feral pigs. Some cases are extreme, such as the one of P. munroi, which has only one single wild individual left. Here are some of the statistics:

  • Kaua'i
    Pritchardia napaliensis : less than 90 individuals
    Pritchardia viscosa : only 2 mature individuals
  • Hawai'i
    Pritchardia schattaueri : only 12 individuals
    Pritchardia affinis : only 60 individuals
  • Moloka'i
    Pritchardia munroi : only one single wild individual
  • Niihau
    Pritchardia aylmer-robinsonii: 2 individuals
  • Nihoa
    Pritchardia remota : 680 individuals
  • O'ahu
    Pritchardia kaalae : two populations
    (Data from Johnson, 1996)

Seeds of Pritchradia munroi were distributed to many botanic gardens in the early 70's. Nowadays many of the palms grown from those seeds have died due to Lethal Yellowing or other factors, and the few survivors are planted together with other species of Pritchardia, giving rise to hybrid seeds. Thankfully, two adult specimens of P. munroi are now growing and fruiting in the Jardin Botánico Viera y Clavijo, in Gran Canaria. No other species of Pritchardia are growing in this garden, so the hundreds of seedlings produced are pure.

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