DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Fish and Wildlife Service

[Federal Register: August 21, 1996 (Volume 61, Number 163)] [Rules and Regulations]

[Page 43178-43184]

>From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]

50 CFR Part 17

RIN 1018-AB88

Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants; Endangered Status for Three Plants From the Island of Nihoa, Hawaii

AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service, Interior.

ACTION: Final rule. In 1858, Dr. Rooke brought seed of a palm from Nihoa and planted it on the palace grounds in Honolulu (Hillebran 1888). A Hillebrand specimen, probably collected from this cultivated tree, was used by Odoardo Beccari (1890) to describe Pritchardia remota. Otto Kuntze transferred the species to other genera, resulting in Washingtonia remota (Kuntze 1891) and later Eupritchardia remota (Beccari and Rock 1921). In their 1921 monograph of the genus, Beccari and Joseph Rock included the species in Pritchardia, as do the authors of the current treatment (Read and Hodel 1990).

Pritchardia remota, a member of the palm family (Arecaceae), is a tree 13 to 16 ft (4 to 5 m) tall with a ringed, wavy trunk about 5.9 in (15 cm) in diameter. The rather ruffled, fan-shaped leaves are about 31 in (80 cm) in diameter and are somewhat waxy to pale green with a few tiny scales on the lower surface. The flowering stalks, up to 12 in (30 cm) long, are branched and have flowers arranged spirally along the hairless stalks. Below each flower is a bract 0.08 to 0.1 in (2 to 3 mm) long. The flower consists of a cup-shaped, three-lobed calyx (fused sepals); three petals, each about 0.2 in (6 mm) long; six stamens; and a three-lobed stigma. The pale greenish brown fruit is almost globose, 0.7 to 0.8 in (1.9 to 2 cm) long and about 0.7 in (1.9 cm) in diameter. This is the only species of Pritchardia on Nihoa and can be distinguished from other species of the genus in Hawaii by its wavy leaves; its short, hairless inflorescences; and its small, globose fruits (Beccari and Rock 1921, Read and Hodel 1990).

Pritchardia remota is known from two extant populations along 0.1 mi (0.2 km) of the length of each of two valleys which are about 0.4 mi (0.6 km) apart on opposite sides of Nihoa. Including seedlings, 680 plants are found in scattered groups: 387 plants in West Palm Valley and 293 in East Palm Valley (Herbst 1977). Earlier totals were somewhat smaller, probably because younger seedlings were not counted (Herbst 1977). An uncollected palm, no longer extant, was observed growing on Laysan Island and may have been this species (Ely and Clapp 1973, Rock 1913). Most of the populations of P. remota are crowded into scattered, small groves on abandoned agricultural terraces lower in the valleys. A few trees also grow at the bases of basaltic cliffs on the steep outer slopes of each of the two valleys. Plants grow from 660 to 896 ft (200 to 273 m) in elevation (Wagner et al. 1990). Pritchardia remota is unusual among Hawaiian members of the genus in that it occurs in a dry area. Fossil loulu stems have been found near sea level on Oahu, which may indicate that the genus was more widespread before so much lowland habitat was altered for human use (Carlquist 1980, Cuddihy and Stone 1990).

Pritchardia remota provides nesting and other habitat for red-footed boobies (Sula sula rubipes) as well as occasional perching space for brown noddies (Anous stolidus pileatus), two of the resident seabirds on Nihoa (Conant 1985). Pritchardia remota is in cultivation in several botanical gardens. The species is threatened by extinction from naturally occurring events due to the small number of populations and the plant's narrow range (Conant 1985; Karen Shigematsu, Lyon Arboretum, pers. comm., 1991).