What total into focal point on the emerald peak of Mauna Pulou astounded our team . The poke relayed footage of an incredibly precious plant . There , backdropped by the Limahuli waterfall and nestled amongst a tapestry of other cliff - harp plants , grew laukahi ( Plantago princeps var . anomala ) . A mend herbaceous plant in Hawaiian medicative drill , the treasure species have supported wildlife and the great unwashed for generations . The critically endangered anomala multifariousness is found only on Kauaʻi . Before this fateful flight in 2017 , it was thought that less than 25 existed .
( L ) Laukahi ( Plantago princeps var . anomala ) . ( R ) Laukahi on Mauna Pulou as seen by drone
Lei Wann , director of Limahuli Garden and Preserve , shares , “ Laukahi can be interpreted as either ‘ singular leaf ’ or many ‘ singular leaves . ’ If you think about how distant and exceptionally rare this salmagundi of laukahi is , it adds more metaphoric import to the few individual stay . ”
The image have that day in Limahuli Valley revealed a Modern population . They had persisted in the resort of these storied cliffs above the fray of development and pressure of invasive coinage . That was the first time a laggard had been used to discover uncommon plants in the Pacific , led by Ben Nyberg ( GIS and radio-controlled aircraft syllabus coordinator ) . While this was a germinal step , our journey to safeguard laukahi had just begun .
To help perpetuate this critically endangered species , our next objective was to add laukahi into cultivation . But retrieving seminal fluid and cuttings by rope down method would be dangerous if not impossible . Once again , we turned to laggard . Our laggard program worked with engineers at Outreach Robotics and researchers from the University of Sherbrooke to design the Mamba . This laggard - base tool is equip with a robotic arm that can safely collect plants once perilously out of reach . The Mamba has overturn our gather methods . We can now remotely collect plant cuttings from otherwise inaccessible cliffs and dramatically reduce the transit metre of fragile works material back to our nursery .
The Mamba ascend to the peaks of Limahuli Valley
In 2022 , our teams returned for a flight to Mauna Pulou , this time with the Mamba . Where we could once only look at these exceedingly rarified flora , we could now strive out and bring hope family . That 24-hour interval , the Mamba ’s weapon grasped the woody stem of a laukahi and exquisitely removed a cut . The squad was elated . We could now attempt to produce a brighter future for this plant life in our Conservation Nursery .
“ It ’s been amazing to see the laukahi history amount full rotary . When we found the plant in 2017 , we thought they were impossible to get at . Now only five years after , we have those exact individuals growing in our nursery . It highlights just how far the technology has advance , ” Ben shares .
( L ) Lei Wann holding the new pluck laukahi cutting . ( roentgen ) Rhian Campbell with the rooted laukahi in our extension science laboratory
For nursery director Rhian Campbell , “ Protecting rarefied flora is both a challenge and duty . ” Growing and caring for unreplaceable plants like the laukahi requires a deep understanding of their grow conditions and needs , which can often start out off as a secret . For Rhian , caring for these flora translates to caring for the ʻāina ( land ) . “ I view plants as entire members of a heavy community of interests that we are all a part of . I bang deeply down that we depend on healthy connections between all members of that community for survive . ”
Once the laukahi cut collected by the Mamba made its way to Rhian , the challenge before her and the nursery squad was to successfully rout the plant . Laukahi are notoriously difficult to settle . The nursery squad used a mixture of develop dead reckoning and a newfangled propagation technique and kept the cutting in a climate - controlled research lab . All the investment and passion paid off : the laukahi root .
Soon after , hope not only took root – it flowered and seeded ! The Mamba - collect flora developed several flowering head , and when we gently shook each to release pollen , seed fell into the container underneath the plant . Several of these seed have germinate and are surviving in our nursery . Rhian was also able to supply our Seed Bank with approximately 500 seeds for keeping .
Source : ntbg.org
