BRIGHAMIA ROCKII

This member of the Campanulaceae family was described by Harold St. John in 1969. It is only found on the Hawaiian island Molokai. It grows on the hill-sides in well-drained soil with some water and lots of sun. It can grow to 5 meters with a stem 25 centimetres in diameter, and the flowers are white. Forrest Anderson send me some seeds from CSSA seed depot. Prefer temperatures around 20-25 C.

The genus name: Brighamia, is named after William Tufts Brigham, 1841-1926, geologist, botanist and the first direction of the Bernice P. Bishop Museum, Honolulu, Hawaiʻi. The specific name rockii is named for Joseph Frances Charles Rock,1884-1962, an Austrian-American botanist who did much to help our current understanding of native Hawaiian plants. Sadly, there are now fewer than 200 Brighamia rockii, plants growing on Moloka’i, I'm told. The flowers by Forest and Kim Starr, Wikimedia.org.