ESC America's Top 10 General Information Nominating Organizations Please Use this Column to Provide the Requested Information Organization & web address Center for Plant Conservation - www.centerforplantconservation.org Contact name (for species info) Nellie Sugii Address Lyon Arboretum Email & phone [email protected] (808) 988-0470 Communications staff contact name Travis Mowers Email & phone [email protected] (314) 577-9541 General Species Information Nanu (Gardenia brighamii ) Common name, genus, and species http://www.centerforplantconservation.org/collection/CPC_ViewProfile.asp?CPCNum=1994 Geographic range Hawaii, Lanai, Oahu, Molokai Conservation status Global Rank: G1 Federal Status: LE Remaining population size Six populations with 15 or fewer individuals. Report Questions Do you have high resolution photos that can be used in the report? Yes Will you want printed reports? If so how many? As many as we can have, but we do not have a budget to purchase copies this year. Yes, we feature a link to the ESC's Top 10 report on the home page of our website. To help the conservation effort for this species: we will encourage the participating institution to highlight the ESC coverage and use it as a springboard to tell more about their own work with the species and their needs to get more done. In addition, we can use the coverage as a springboard to tell If your species is selected, will you use the report people how important this wild species is to horticulture for the beloved gardenia species in as a tool to organize around the species and/or horticulture, and its potential usefulness in the future. We and others can also use the publication publicize its plight? to reach out to potential funders for regional work in preserving and restoring habitat for the species, For general outreach: we include a link to the publication in our internal newsletter. We distribute the link to our conservation directory contacts. We circulate to trustees and partners and work to highlight the named institutions. The report can also be used to appeal to funders and it is possible that we would discuss the publication in future newsletters. Public Engagement Questions (Please explain why the species is interesting, why it matters, why decision-makers + the public should care.) Gardenia brighamii is endemic to the Hawaiian Islands and at one time thought to have occurred on all of the main islands. It is a member of a beloved genus famed for its beauty and fragrance. Hawaiians cultural uses include making kua kuku (kapa anvils)and pou (house posts) from the wood, and the fruit yielded a yellow kapa dye. The white, fragrant flowers were used in lei. Judging from its use by the Hawaiians as a cloth dye, its habitat, associated species, and Interesting facts about the species distribution in the early 1900s, it was probably a relatively common member of the lowland dry forest. At the beginning of the 20th century, it was considered common on west Molokai and Maui, but already either extirpated or very rare on the other islands. Today, the total known wild individuals of Gardenia brighamii numbers less than 20 and are distributed among 6 populations on Oahu, Lanai and Molokai. Gardenia brighamii, the Hawaiian gardenia, is a close relative of the commonly cultivated Tahitian gardenia (Gardenia taitensis), beloved in the horticultural and floral trades, and this species is also in the horticultural trade in Hawaii. Gardenia brighamii is a small tree, which may grow up to 20 feet in height. The leaves are oval-shaped, shiny and dark green. The solitary flowers are white and very fragrant. In the 1990s there were three populations on Oahu. One was consumed by fire, one was choked out by weeds, insects and drought, and one remains. The last Molokai tree Additional background information to complete was affected by all of these threats, but conservationists were able to save cuttings of that tree the species profile in the report and from Oahu populations. There are still 12 plants on Lanai that are imperiled by all of the threats. http://www.centerforplantconservation.org/collection/CPC_ViewProfile.asp?CPCNum=1994 http://nativeplants.hawaii.edu/plant/view/gardenia_brighamii http://www.fws.gov/pacificislands/flora/higardenia.html https://plants.usda.gov/core/profile?symbol=GABR# http://ecos.fws.gov/docs/federal_register/fr1002.pdf http://ecos.fws.gov/speciesProfile/profile/speciesProfile.action?spcode=Q1WJ ESC America's Top 10 Gardenia brighamii is affected by human land use practices. Losing this species will be a emblematic of the loss of the lowland dry forest habitat. (Hawaii has experienced extreme loss of lowland dry forest habitat due to fire, human agricultural and urban encroachment, rats and other threats compound its problems). It would also mean a loss of one our our most beautiful and potentially useful sepcies. Gardenia, including this species, have great usefulness in the What are the most important messages that horticultural trade, perfumes and other potentially useful compounds. Many species in the should be communicated about this species' genus have been believed to have curative properties and have been used in Chinese medicine, decline? and recent research is showing bioactive compounds in several species. It's also affected by climate change and can be a good case study for expected future effects (drought may spur the need for future relocation to higher elevations). Populations are so small and vulnerable, they need to be actively managed (breeding programs to increase diversity may be needed). This species can survive if people act to protect it; this includes supporting the research and restoration efforts necessary to bolster the numbers of this plant and taking any measures possible to reduce the number of threats. Waimea Valley (www.waimeavalley.net) is a Participating Institution of the Center for Plant Conservation (www.centerforplantconservation.org) and is the primary custodian for this plant in the CPC National Collection. Waimea Valley receives annual sponsorship money from CPC to help with the care and research needs of this plant. Some of Waimea Valley's efforts to protect this plant include insect predation control; spraying the plant for twig borer control; erecting fencing; and alien tree removal, reintroduction, and pollination to get fruit. Another CPC institution, Lyon Is your NGO working to save the species? If yes, Arboretum (www.hawaii.edu/lyonarboretum/), works to maintain this species too. Lyon how? Arboretum functions as a propagation facility and provides material for field botanist and land managers. Lyon also has at least 50 plants in tissue cultue and hundreds of seed in storage. There is a recovery plan in place for this species, as several botanical gardens and rare plant organizations collect and propagate seed of this species. Starting in the 1970s, several volunteers and organizers from many partnerships erected and maintained protective fences around the plants. In general, people can help by supporting laws that protect imperiled plants, and by supporting recovery funding for the ESA and budgets for federal and state agencies. Research and restoration efforts for this plant need sustained support. Specifically support is needed to protect dry forest habitat and supporting forest fire prevention. An appeal to preserving cultural How can individuals help? Please be as specific as traditions such as dye making and making of Kapa cloth beaters from the wood of this tree might possible. spark interest in preserving this species. People in Hawaii can also help by supporting insect predation controls, reducing or mitigating urban expansion, controlling feral and wild pigs and goats, preventing soil erosion, controlling rats and invasive plants, and by not collecting this plant from the wild. There are also local opportunities including volunteering or donating to organizations working wth the species including, Waimea Valley, or Lyon Arboretum. In general, people can help by supporting laws that protect imperiled plants. State and federal entities can provide support for invasive species controls and pest management, reducing fire threats, controlling grazing of pigs and goats in the habitat area of this plant, provide fencing and increase support for collecting, seed banking, research, and propagation of this species. An overall increase in funding for endangered plant species would help. Governments can Is there anything else that governments or others be involved in securing habitat of current populations and for potential future populations, could/should/are doing to save the species? conducting research, monitoring, reestablishing in former range Criteria-Specific Questions There is evidence that this species may have once been common on all of the main Hawaiian Islands, due to its various uses by Hawaiians in earlier times. The species is now rare and vulnerable in the wild due to agriculture and urban expansion, feral and wild ungulates- grazing Describe the specific threat(s) to the species. and trampling. Fires in the dry lowland habitats can be catastrophic. Soil erosion occurs. Detail the current and projected decline of the Invertebrates and diseases attack plants. Alien invasive plants degrade the remaining habitat. In species. Give historic population numbers. Cite addition some plants are lost from overcollection by enthusiasts and damage by introduced rats. any substantiating scientific studies. In the 1990s there were three populations on Oahu. One was consumed by fire,