Kauaʻi record · kba_plant_cyanea_asarifolia
Hāhā
Cyanea asarifolia
Open this record in the interactive Atlas
About Hāhā
Hāhā (Cyanea asarifolia) is recorded as an established shrub on Kauaʻi. A short, sparsely branched shrub about 0.3–1 metre tall. Long leaf stalks support broad heart-shaped leaves. Numerous slender flowers are white with purple lengthwise markings and a gently bent tube. Rounded ripe berries are dark purple and approximately one centimetre across. A Kauaʻi endemic of wet cliff vegetation. NTBG reported an additional wild colony found during a drone survey in its account of 2021 discoveries. Survival, recruitment and fruit production are measurable indicators of this native population’s persistence.
Kauaʻi evidence
Established island occurrence follows the Bishop Museum checklist. Diagnostic morphology follows Smithsonian Hawaiian Flora; accepted identity follows Kew WCVP. Generated imagery is not occurrence evidence. Proposed monitoring endpoints are not reported observations, measured effects or causal findings.
Names and classification
- Scientific name
- Cyanea asarifolia
- Hawaiian names
- hāhā
- Other names
- Cyanea asarifolia · hāhā · Delissea asarifolia
- Record type
- Species
Kauaʻi occurrence and status
- Kauaʻi occurrence
- Recorded on Kauaʻi
- Origin
- Endemic
- Conservation status
- Not yet assessed
- Evidence date
- 2026-10-07
- Evidence limits
- Current extent and island effect sizes are unassessed. Public occurrence remains island-level only.
Habitat and ecology
- Habitats
- Wet cliff vegetation
- Food and resource needs
- Not yet assessed
- Reproduction
- Local pollinators, flowering schedules, seedling establishment and recruitment rates are not independently assessed.
- Shelter
- Not yet assessed
- Growth form
- Shrub or subshrub
Threats and conservation
- Monitoring
- Repeated counts of naturally established plants and recruits; Flowering and fruiting frequency; Occupied wet-cliff habitat area. Proposed monitoring endpoints are not reported observations, measured effects or causal findings.
- Data gaps
- Current island population extent and trend · Quantified local environmental effects
Process and seasonal context
- Seasonal timing
- Not yet assessed
- Seasonal description
- Hāhā (Cyanea asarifolia) is recorded as an established shrub on Kauaʻi. A short, sparsely branched shrub about 0.3–1 metre tall. Long leaf stalks support broad heart-shaped leaves. Numerous slender flowers are white with purple lengthwise markings and a gently bent tube. Rounded ripe berries are dark purple and approximately one centimetre across. A Kauaʻi endemic of wet cliff vegetation. NTBG reported an additional wild colony found during a drone survey in its account of 2021 discoveries. Survival, recruitment and fruit production are measurable indicators of this native population’s persistence.
Sources and further reading
- https://naturalhistory2.si.edu/botany/hawaiianflora/speciesdescr.cfm?genus=Cyanea&species=asarifolia
- https://powo.science.kew.org/taxon/141908-1
- https://naturalhistory2.si.edu/botany/hawaiianflora/genusdescr.cfm?genus=Cyanea
- https://hbs.bishopmuseum.org/publications/pdf/tr75.pdf
- https://ntbg.org/news/discoveries-of-rare-plant-populations-bring-hope-for-the-future/