Cyanea pilosa A. Gray

Genus: Cyanea

Range: Hawaii; windward Kohala, Mauna Kea and Mauna Loa/Kilauea; wet forests, 610-1,520 m.

Growth form: Treelet, 0.8-2 m tall.

This short treelet from the windward wet forests of the big island has fuzzy leaves which are about a 30 cm long x 10 cm wide (one foot x 4 inches), obovate to elliptic; the apex is acuminate, the base cuneate, the petiole 6 cm long. The inflorescence is highly variable in length, 6-many-flowered, peduncles pilose, pedicels glabrous.

How to identify: The only species with fuzzy, simple leaves on the big island are Cy. pilosa and Cy. floribunda. Cy. pilosa has more hair on the underside than does Cy. floribunda which is only hairy on the midrib of the leaf undersurface. Further, in general Cy. pilosa is slightly larger in stature, leaf size, petiole length and peduncle length.

There are two subspecies: pilosa and longipedunculata with the latter having the larger inflorescences (12-28-flowered) versus 6-12-flowered for Cy. pilosa pilosa. Making up for fewer berries, Cy. pilosa pilosa has the larger berries (1-2 cm), whereas the berries of longipedunculata don't quite reach 1cm. They also segregate geographically with Cy. pilosa pilosa found on Kohala and Mauna Kea and Cy. pilosa longipedunculata found on Mauna Kea and Mauna Loa.

Sources: