A New Species of Cyrtandra (Gesneriaceae) from Kaua’i, Hawaiian Islands

A rare new species of the Pacific genus Cyrtandra, C. paliku, is described from the Hawaiian Islands. It is unique in its combination of thick stems with shaggy, reddish brown villous pubescence, leaves strongly inequilateral, petioles shaggy villous, and calyx weakly zygomorphic and persistent. Known from northeastern Kaua`i, Cyrtandra paliku occurs only on Mount Namahana and is restricted to north-facing rock faces. A single population of about 70 plants occurs on vertical saturated walls.