Mao hau heleMalvaceaeEndemic to the Hawaiian IslandsIUCN: Endangered Oahu (Cultivated), N.W. Lnai formThis unique form is nearly glabrous (no hairs) leaves. There is yet another form on Lnai that is totally, or as can be, glabrous, and has only a few specimens remaining in the wild in a protected exclosure.Mao hau hele was planted for an ornamental use by early Hawaiians.Mao hau hele (Hibiscus brackenridgei) has been chosen to represent the official flower for the State of Hawaii. See the story of how it became so at the website below.
nativeplants.hawaii.edu/plant/view/Hibiscus_brackenridgei...EtymologyThe generic name Hibiscus is derived from hibiscos, the Greek name for mallow.The specific and subspecific epithet brackenridgei is named after William Dunlop Brackenridge (1810-1893), Scottish-American horticulturist and superintendent of the National Botanic Garden in Washington, D.C.