Waianae Range pritchardia

The Essence

"Pritchardia kaalae is a solitary fan palm endemic to the Waiʻanae Mountains of western Oʻahu. Joseph Rock published the name in 1921, the epithet referring to Mount Kaʻala. Roughly five subpopulations survive in the central and north-central Waiʻanae Mountains around that peak; estimates of the wild population range from fewer than 130 individuals in 1998 to about 170 treated as a single population. The IUCN Red List assesses it as Critically Endangered, and it has been federally listed as Endangered in the United States since 1996. Documented threats are competition from invasive plants such as Christmas berry (Schinus terebinthifolius), seed predation by introduced rats and goats, and trampling and habitat disturbance by feral pigs; with so few individuals left, reduced reproductive success through inbreeding is a further concern. Known plants occur on state and federal land, including Mount Kaʻala and land leased to the Department of Defense for the Mākua and Schofield Barracks military reservations. Despite that precariousness it is an easy palm to grow, and is now widely cultivated in botanical gardens."

Loulu leaves were used by early Hawaiians for thatching and for plaiting pāpale (hats) and fans, and the young fruits — called hāwane or wāhane — were eaten as a delicacy after peeling, the soft interior said to taste like coconut.