Cyanea pinnatifida

Cyanea pinnatifida
Conservation status
	; Extinct in the Wild (IUCN 3.1)
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
Clade:	Tracheophytes
Clade:	Angiosperms
Clade:	Eudicots
Clade:	Asterids
Order:	Asterales
Family:	Campanulaceae
Genus:	Cyanea
Species:	C. pinnatifida
Binomial name
	Cyanea pinnatifida; (Cham.) E.Wimm.

Cyanea pinnatifida is a rare species of flowering plant in the bellflower family known by the common name sharktail cyanea. It is endemic to Oahu, but it is now extinct in the wild and only exists in cultivation.^[1] Like other Cyanea it is known as haha in Hawaiian.^[2]

At the time this plant was federally listed as an

Waianae Mountains of Oahu until 2001, when it died. Now some plants are kept at the Lyon Arboretum in Honolulu and a few juveniles have been planted in appropriate habitat. No recruitment has occurred among these, however, and the plant is still considered extinct in the wild.^[3]

This Hawaiian lobelioid is a shrub which can reach ten feet in height. The leaves are divided into a few deep lobes. The inflorescence produces up to 15 green-tinged white flowers with purple stripes. Little is known about the life history of the plant because so few individuals have been known to science.^[4]

The plant was said to be driven to extinction by the destruction and degradation of its habitat by several forces. The most destructive was the

Koster's curse (Clidemia hirta) and passionflower (Passiflora suberosa). Rats and slugs, which are very damaging to many Cyanea species, may have affected this one as well.^[3]