Silversword on Haleakala
by Nancy ~ February 12th, 2006. Filed under: Hawaii.
It is obvious why this plant is named silversword. It shines brilliant in the sun. The Hawaiian name is ahinahina and it is a member of the sunflower family. It is endemic to the upper slopes of the volcano, above 6,500 feet elevation.
The silversword only flowers once after many years of growth. The flowering stalk can reach a height of 4 to 6 feet. This beautiful plant neared extinction in the 1920s from vandalism, browsing by goats and cattle and hikers damaging the roots by hiking near the plants.
In the past 20 years the number of annual flowering plants each season has varied from none to over 6,600. The ahinahina is threatened again by a recent immigration of an Argenine ant which preys on the pollinators of the ahinahina. This beautiful plant is protected in Haleakala and over 50,000 plants are now found in the park.