Cyanea membranacea Rock

Genus: Cyanea

Range: O'ahu, Wai'anae Range; mesic forests, 580-730 m.

Growth form: Treelet, 2-4 m tall.

The name membranacea was first used by Rock in 1957 in describing a specimen collected in 1929 by G. W. Russ near the Ka'ai-kukui Gulch to the east of the Palikea Ridge in the Wai'anae Range. As of Wimmer (1968) the name was still attached to this single specimen. Then in 1990, Lammers placed several other specimens as synonymous: Cyanea angustifolia var. tomentella, described by Hillebrand, Cyanea coriacea var. serratifolia, described in Rock (1957) and Cyanea dentata, described by Wimmer (1968). The first of these is from Helemano; the last two are from Pu'u Kōnehoa.

Description: A shrub over 2 meters tall, single-stemmed or with a few suberect branches with the leaves clustered at the ends. Leaves: membranous, oblanceolate, 20-30 x 4-7 cm with traces of pubescence on both sides, the margin irregularly serrate but entire near the base, acute-acuminate at both ends, hirsute petioles of 4-7 cm.

How to identify:

Sources:

• Hillebrand, 1888 (as Cyanea angustifolia var. tomentella);
• Rock, 1919 (as Cyanea angustifolia var. tomentella);
• Wimmer, 1943 (as Cyanea angustifolia var. tomentella);
• Wimmer, 1943 (as Cyanea angustifolia f. subpubescens);
• Rock, 1957;
• Wimmer, 1968 (as Cyanea dentata);
• Wimmer, 1968 (as Cyanea coriacea var. serratifolia);
• Wimmer, 1968;
• Wagner et al., 1990.