Dubautia knudsenii

Common Names

Forest Dubautia

Summary

Endemic to Kauaʻi, this Hawaiian shrub or small tree grows to about 6 m tall with opposite leaves, and is distinguished by uniseriate, firmly coalescent purple receptacular bracts and usually reflexed flower clusters (except subsp. nagatae); prominently glandular, narrowly tubular florets are not exserted, with flowering patterns including year-round in subsp. knudsenii, September–December in subsp. nagatae, and poorly known in subsp. filiformis; it inhabits mesic to fairly wet forest habitats or bog fringes at elevations about 550–1,375 m with roughly 125–400 cm of annual precipitation.

Endemism across western to central Kauaʻi includes subspecies knudsenii, nagatae, and filiformis, whose distribution and morphological differences (subsp. knudsenii with strongly deflexed flowering heads on stout peduncles and larger, more cylindric heads than subsp. filiformis, which has small heads on slender peduncles) inform site suitability and identification in cultivation or landscape settings.

Lifecycle

Perennial

Height

19.7 feet

Soil Drainage

Mesic to fairly wet soils

Bloom Color

Yellow

Bloom Time

Year-round

Seasons of Interest

Summer, Fall, Winter