Kanaloa (botany)
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Kanaloa is a Hawaiian genus of plant of the family Fabaceae, subfamily Mimosoideae.
This genus is interesting because it is known from its pollen grains (found in archaeological cores) to have once been quite common on O‘ahu (Athens et al. 1992) and to have also occurred on Maui (James & Burney 1997) at least. However, the pollen grains could not be associated with any known plant until the very recent discovery of just a few surviving specimens of K. kahoolawensis on Kaho‘olawe (Lorence & Wood 1994). Whether the pollen grains in the archaeological samples belong to K. kahoolawensis or not is not known. As Kaho‘olawe was united with Maui and other islands prehistorically (see also Maui Nui), this is entirely possible as regards the Maui finds. On the other hand, it is far more likely than not that the O‘ahu remains represent another, extinct, species - possibly an ancestor of K. kahoolawensis -, judging from the biogeography of Hawaiian land plants.
[edit] References
- Athens, J. S.; Ward, J. V. & Wickler, S. (1992) Late Holocene lowland vegetation on O’ahu, Hawai’i. New Zealand Journal of Archaeology 14: 9–34.
- James, Helen F. & Burney, David A. (1997): The diet and ecology of Hawaii's extinct flightless waterfowl: evidence from coprolites. Biol. J. Linn. Soc. 62(2): 279–297. HTML abstract
- Lorence D. H. & Wood, K. R. (1994) Kanaloa, a new genus of Fabaceae (Mimosoideae) from Hawaii. Novon 4: 137–145.
