  argyroxiphium is a small genus of plants in the sunflower family, asteraceae.candolle, augustin pyramus de. 1836. prodromus systematis naturalis regni vegetabilis 5: 668tropicos, argyroxiphium dc. its members are known by the common name of silversword or greensword due to their long, narrow leaves and the silvery hairs on some species. it belongs to a larger radiation of over 50 species, including the physically different genera dubautia and wilkesia. this grouping is often referred to as the silversword alliance. == description == these perennials are endemic to hawaii, occurring only on the islands of maui and hawaii in an extremely localized distribution. they are primarily found above  in elevation in alpine deserts or bogs, indicating an adaptation to low-nutrient soils. the kaÅ« or mauna loa silversword (a. kauense) is the most adaptable: it can be found in rocky lava flows, bogs, and open forest. they consist of rosette-forming epigeal shrubs or dwarf shrubs. they may consist of a single large rosette (mauna kea and haleakalÄ silverswords), a short-branched rosette (mauna loa silversword), or spreading with runners (eke silversword, greenswords). the flower heads consist of a ring of pistillate ray florets around 30 to 600 disk florets. the corolla varies in color from purplish to wine red or yellow, while the anthers are dark. a rosette will grow from 5â20 years before flowering, after which it dies. for those with a single rosette, this means the death of the plant (in contrast, those reproducing by runners rarely f
Argyroxiphium Asteraceae_genera Endemic_flora_of_Hawaii