Clermontia fauriei H. Lév.

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

Range: Common on Kaua'i. Only a few collections in the 1950's from O'ahu; mesic to wet forest; 365-1,400m.

Growth form: Shrub, 2-7 m tall.

This species shares a tortured nomenclature along with Clermontia clermontioides of Hawai'i. The current name was first applied in 1911 by Léveillé who must have been unaware of the previous descriptions of the plant under the names Clermontia clermontioides and Clermontia gaudichaudii. The name Clermontia clermontioides definitely applies to plants found on Hawai'i, so this name could not be used. Clermontia gaudichaudii was first used by Hillebrand describing the plant from Kaua'i but claimed it synonymous with Gaudichaud's Delissea clermontioides a plant likely from Hawai'i. Possibly due to this confusion, Léveillé's name has been adopted.

How to identify: It is the only Clermontia found on Kaua'i.

Description : The habit is that of a typical Clermontia, a tangled shrub 2-7 m tall with candelabra-like branching, often growing epiphytically from the base of another tree, the leaves are clustered at the ends of stems.

Sources:

• Mann, 1868 (pro parte as Delissea clermontioides; description includes Cl. fauriei);
• Wawra, 1873 (Wawra's Delissea clermontioides is Cl. fauriei);
• Hillebrand, 1888 (Hillebrand's Clermontia gaudichaudii is Cl. fauriei);
• Heller, 1897 (Heller's Clermontia clermontioides is Cl. fauriei);
• Léveillé, 1911;
• Rock, 1913 (Rock's Clermontia gaudichaudii is Cl. fauriei);
• Rock, 1919 (Rock's Clermontia gaudichaudii is Cl. fauriei, note var. barbata is Cl. peleana);
• Wimmer, 1943 (Wimmer's Clermontia clermontioides and its var. epiphytica are Cl. fauriei);
• Wimmer's (1943) Clermontia clermontioides var. singuliflora is Cl. peleana;
• Rock, 1957 (as Clermontia clermontioides var. hirsutiflora);
• Wimmer, 1968 (as Clermontia clermontioides var. hirsutiflora);
• Wagner et al., 1990.