Schiedea kauaiensis H. St. John
Creators: name: Wagner, Warren L.
name: Weller, Stephen G.
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2025
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Plantae
Tracheophyta
Magnoliopsida
Caryophyllales
Caryophyllaceae
Schiedea
Schiedea kauaiensis

description: Schiedea kauaiensis H. St. John, Phytologia 64: 177. 1988.
Figs 1, 2, 3
Schiedea nuttallii var. pauciflora O. Deg. & Sherff in Sherff, Bot. Leafl. 7: 6. 1952. Type. Hawaiian Islands, Kaua‘i: Forest Reserve, ridge behind Papa‘a, 16 Jan 1952, O. Degener & A. B. Greenwell s. n. (holotype: F- 1451309, F- 1451310, originally mounted on a single sheet [photo: F!], but now on 2 sheets [photos: F!]; isotypes: B! BISH- 2 sheets!, F!, K, NY- 2 sheets!, PH- 2 sheets!, US- 2 sheets!).
Schiedea nuttallii var. lihuensis Sherff, Bot. Leafl. 9: 3. 1954. Type. Hawaiian Islands, Kaua‘i: [southeastern Kaua’i] “ mauka of Gap?, near Lihue, ” 1911, J. M. Lydgate s. n. (holotype: BISH-501710!, photo: F!, isotypes: BISH- 2 sheets!)
Schiedea wichmanii H. St. John, Phytologia 64: 178. 1988. Type. Hawaiian Islands, Kaua‘i: Limahuli Valley, E wall, 60 ° slope, locality on dark soil and loose rock with remnant ‘ Ohi‘a, Eugenia, Uluhe, Santalum [pyrularium A. Gray], Diospyros, Psychotria, and Hibiscus, 1300 ft [395 m], 13 Sep 1978, S. Perlman & C. Wichman, Jr. 219 (holotype: BISH-522858!; isotype: BISH!, PTBG!). [Sterile specimens, flowers liquid preserved.]
Schiedea perlmanii W. L. Wagner & Weller, Syst. Bot Monogr. 72: 71. 2005. Type. Hawaiian Islands, Kaua‘i: Mt. Ha‘upu, near Queen Victoria’s profile, W of head of Victoria, Diospyros-Metrosideros lowland mesic forest, 1700–1950 ft [515–590] m, 27 Feb 1992, S. Perlman 12614 (holotype: US- 3252201!; isotypes: AD, BISH!, PTBG!).
Type.
Hawaiian Islands, Kaua‘i • Wainiha-Manoa ridge, wet forest near edge of pali, 2000 ft [610 m], 30 Jul 1977, C. Christensen 290 (holotype: BISH-522854!).
Description.
Vine; stems 6–12 dm long (in cultivation eventually to 15 dm or more long), sprawling when young to reclining when longer, at least sparingly branched, internodes deep purple or purplish green, glabrous throughout, except bracts, sepals, and sometimes the pedicel sparsely short-puberulent. Leaves opposite; blades 4–11.5 cm long, 2–2.8 cm wide, narrowly ovate or lanceolate to elliptic-lanceolate, weakly glossy, green or yellowish green, sometimes purple-tinged, especially on lower surface, weakly coriaceous and rubbery, chartaceous when dry, with only the midvein evident, the midvein ± slightly excentric, usually reddish purple, margin entire, slightly thickened and becoming revolute toward the base, apex acute to acuminate; petioles 0.8–0.9 cm long, purple, weakly ± grooved. Inflorescence terminal, with 40–60 flowers, 20–35 cm long and nearly as wide, diffuse, laterally-directed or pendent, the tertiary and higher level internodes or pedicels weakly spreading; bracts subulate, the lowermost of central axis narrowly elliptic, falcate, green and purple-tinged or purple, the lowermost ones 2–17 mm long, those of branches and flowers 1.5–4.5 mm long, purple, the adaxial surface puberulent; pedicels 13–15 mm long at anthesis, weakly flattened, very weakly angled just below the flower and often sparsely short-puberulent. Flowers hermaphroditic, usually pendent. Sepals 2.2–3 mm long, elongating to 4 mm long in fruit, ovate, green, sometimes purple-tinged toward apex or irregularly purple throughout, opaque, strongly reflexed and convex in the proximal 1 / 4, producing a conspicuous transverse bulge, the distal part broadly navicular, oriented at 5 ° to 30 ° angle to the pedicel, abaxial side sparsely puberulent toward the base, the adaxial side puberulent, primarily near the midrib, margins conspicuously scarious, ciliate, apex attenuate, inconspicuously slightly twisted. Nectary base 0.7–0.9 mm long, yellow, the nectary shaft 4.5 mm long, gently recurved, at 90 ° angle to the axis, apex deeply bifid to ca. 1 / 2 their length. Stamens 10; filaments dimorphic, the antisepalous whorl 6.2–6.3 mm long, the alternate whorl 5 mm long; anthers 0.75–0.8 mm long, subequal, pale yellow. Styles 3. Capsules 2.5–2.8 mm long, ovoid. Seeds ca. 1.2 mm long, orbicular-reniform, compressed, the surface rugose. Chromosome number unknown.
Distribution.
(Fig. 3). Kaua‘i, known from mesic shrubland in four disjunct areas on windward Kaua‘i: 1) near the summit of the Hoary Head Mountains (Ha‘upu), 2) from a collection from above Papa‘a made over 50 years ago and more recently Moloa‘a Forest Reserve, Anahola, 3) as well as Wainiha, Limahuli, and Manoa valleys, and 4) from an old collection of a population in Wahiawa Mountains (Hi‘i Mts) in the central region; ca. 400– 640 m.
Specimens examined.
Hawaiian Islands. Kaua‘i: Koloa District: Hi‘i Mts., s. d., Lydgate s. n. (BISH). Lihue District: Ha‘upu summit, slopes of N facing side near top, [21°55'33.6"N, 159°24'1.9"W], Perlman et. al. 12917 (PTBG), Wood et al. 18289 (PTBG), Wood et al. 18449 (PTBG); Mt. Ha‘upu, N facing cliffs above Kipu, between Queen Victoria’s Profile and Mt. Ha‘upu summit, Perlman 17563 (BISH, NY, PTBG, US), Wood et al. 11435 (PTBG); Mt. Ha‘upu, slopes above Kipu ranch, to W of Queen Victoria’s Profile, Perlman 17439 (PTBG), 17449 (PTBG); windward Ha‘upu, just E of Ha‘upu Peak, Kipu, below “ Queen Elizabeth’s [Queen Victoria’s] Profile, ” Warshauer 1184 (BISH). Kawaihau District: Moloa‘a Forest Reserve, near Kawalumakua Peak [22°09'14.4"N, 159°20'08.4"W], Wood et al. 14705 (PTBG), [22°09'19.9"N, 159°20'31.1"W], Wood et al. 14718 (BISH, PTBG, US), Wood et al. 14719 (PTBG), Tangalin 3361 (PTBG). Hanalei District: Manoa valley, above falls in valley to East of Limahuli, 530 m, Perlman et al. 23977 (PTBG); Wainiha valley, on ridge 1300 ft. S of Kulanaililia, top of ridge, [22°12'20.5"N, 159°34'5.1"W], Christensen 317 (BISH); Limahuli Valley, E wall, 60 ° slope, locality on dark soil and loose rock with ‘ Ohi‘a, Eugenia, Uluhe, Santalum [pyrularium A. Gray], Diospyros, Psychotria, and Hibiscus, 1300 ft [395 m], 16 August 1978, S. Perlman & C. Wichman, Jr. 218 (BISH); Lower Limahuli valley, up subgulch on W side of valley [22°13'02.9"N, 159°34'59.6"W], Perlman & Bender 17370 (PTBG).
Cultivated specimens.
Kaua‘i: Ha‘upu summit, slopes of N facing side near top, Perlman et. al. 12917 [cult. Wagner & Shannon 6795] (BISH, GH, NY, PTBG, US); SE portion of Moloa‘a Forest Reserve, Anahola upper gulch [22 ° ’ 15 " N, 159 ° 33 " W], Heintzman KP 06012199 (US); from a cutting from Upper Manoa Valley, Heintzman KP 05052302 (PTBG), Wood & DeMotta 18282 (PTBG).
description: Published as part of Wagner, Warren L. & Weller, Stephen G., 2025, A realigned taxonomy for the Schiedea kauaiensis – S. perlmanii species pair (Caryophyllaceae) based on recent collections and new analyses that require nomenclatural changes for both species, pp. 113-123 in PhytoKeys 254 on pages 113-123, DOI: 10.3897/phytokeys.254.148438