Clermontia pyrularia Hillebr.

Genus: Clermontia section Clermontioideae, i.e. sepaloid sepals.

Range: Hawaii, mesic to wet forests, 1,585-2,130 m.

Growth form: Shrub, 3-4 m tall.

This species ...

In a conversation with Jon Price, he mentioned this is the only Clermontia that he knows of that grows in exclusively mesic forest; never in wet forest. He suspects this is because it is of hybrid origin. In Givnish et al. (2013), it is suggested that this species is a hybrid between Cyanea hamatiflora and Cl. clermontioides.

Var. mollis of Cyanea obtusa from Hawai'i, described by Gray and continued as such by Hillebrand, Rock and Wimmer, was reclassified to here by Lammers (1990).

How to identify: Different than other Clermontia, the leaf margin of Cl. pyrularia is serrate instead of crenate. It also has the longest leaf and the highest length/width ratio of any Clermontia.

Images:

Sources:

• Gray, 1861 (as Delissea obtusa var. mollis);
• Mann, 1868 (as Delissea obtusa var. mollis);
• Hillebrand, 1888;
• Hillebrand, 1888 (the Hawaiian specimen of Cyanea obtusa);
• Rock, 1919;
• Rock, 1919 (the Hawaiian specimen of Cyanea obtusa);
• Wimmer, 1943 (the Hawaiian specimen of Cyanea obtusa);
• Wimmer, 1943;
• Degener, 1960;
• Wimmer, 1968;
• Wagner et al., 1990.