Aloha Steve,

Shouldn't you just change islands and move over here? Wouldn't your tree fern collection thank you if you did? ;)

I'm not on the right island to help you in your Kauai fern search, but if I see any blue-underneath-small-tree-ferns around here (the Big Island), I'll take a picture of them for you.

Always glad to hear news of Hawaiian Cibotiums, whatever the species. Oh yes! Of course, any Cibotium tree ferns that you come across on the big island will be from the better known cluster of C.chamissoi (often misnamed C.splendens or C.hawaiense), C.glaucum and C.menziesii - not the funny little one I was talking about in the original posting. And the most common diminutive 'tree fern' of all round your parts is Sadleria cyatheoides - a short-trunked colonising fern that frequently grows right among the Cibotium thickets...just to make any ID that bit more confusing for you!

Yes, it's odd that I supply most of your Hawaiian tree fern postings while living just about as far from the islands as it's possible to get - but that's the beauty of the internet. When our 18th century botanist Archibald Menzies discovered your Cibotium menziesii in Hawaii - sailing on board the great navigator Captain Vancouver's famous expedition to the Pacfic North West - he had to travel literally for years to make it possible. For me - in lieu of a flight to Honolulu - virtual Hawaii is a mouse click away. A poor substitute in a way, but then you can't have everything...

Steve - Brighton, Sussex Coast, UK

Forgive my cheek for replying to my own posting, just to bump it back up the list for a while. Surely we must have some knowledgeable Kauai types here on the forum...?

If you really really want to get a hold of this fern which i think you do. You might wanna check out Nationial Tropical Botanical Garden. They have the largest collection of native Hawai'ian plants. The only way I know of Cibotium nealiae is from D.D. Palmer's book "Hawai'i's Ferns and Fern Allies. There are not many Hawai'i people on garden web and in Hawai'i very few people are knowledgable about native plants. The populaiton of Kaua'i compared with combined O'ahu, Maui, and Hawai'i (Big Island) is like comparing a Gonocormus minutus with an Angiopteris evecta. But im sure you can get a hold of this fern if you keep on tryin. BUt i have barely ever heard it being mentioned before.

Thanks for the information. You're right that this is a VERY difficult line of inquiry to pursue via Gardenweb, or even via Hawaii Big Island residents (and we've never even had a Kauai correspondent on any topic), but I had to start somewhere.

Steve - Brighton, Sussex Coast, UK

Aloha Steve,
I'm sure that I'm not the only Kauai resident participating in this forum. I live in Wailua, 4 miles up the Wailua River. I'm not an expert on tree ferns. We have several in our yard but not the one you're looking for. My wife and I were visitors to Sussex (Lancing) earlier this year, as part of a Friendship Force exchange. Small world! Good luck in your search.

Lancing...! Just up the road from me. Did you see that extraordinary landmark private school (Lancing College) that dominates the Adur river valley like a castle repelling would-be invaders?

Well, you're my ONLY contacts so far on Kauai, so the hunt for this miniature one-metre Cibotium (Hapu) is entirely down to you. Do get in touch if you ever here anything about it. It's a fairly rare species and certainly not visible all over the place - I'm sure you'd only find it up in the higher elevations away from the forestry tracks, and even then not in large numbers. You never know...

Lovely to hear from you!

Steve - Brighton, Sussex Coast, UK

PS About 7C in Brighton and Lancing tonight.

Aloha Steve,

I just moved to Kauai from coastal California and just found this site while planning my new garden. I've been hiking the mountains of Kauai for years and will keep an eye out for your diminutive variety of tree fern. Having worked in nurseries and landscaping has me eager to discover the native plants on my new island home.

Would you give me the description again so I can distinguish it? I think you said the trunk will be 1 metre (3 feet) or less. Did you say the underside is a blush color? (Pink?) And is the top usually a glossy, deep green?

Aloha steve,I am new to this forum and found your quest for the kauai hapuu. Well, I recently harvested a few from Kokee for my garden. I believe this is the fern your talking about. The trunks are very short compared to the big island tree ferns that get tall. The leaves have been cut off to give the trunk strength to shoot new leaves, so when I get new growth I can take a digital picture of it.

Hey, the first really positive response since I first posted back in October last year. Some nice people have been in touch to offer to report back from fortbcoming hikes in the hills - but so far no definite sitings of the elusive tree fern in question. Thankyou so much for getting in touch - that's made my day, Kekoa.

The next challenge is to get a definitive ID on this little Hapuu (Cibotium nealiae). Between us, I'm sure we can pin it down one way or another. We'd need close-up photos of a fully developed frond placed on your hand (for scale) - one shot topside, one underneath. Choose a portion of frond closest to the trunk for the photos, not the frond tip - there are more ID clues down at the trunk end where the first few pairs of leafy pinnules are attached. Also, a close-up of the stipe (stems) bases as they emerge from the crown - try and get the first couple of feet of length in shot. Again, there are diagnostic details here.

All that will have to wait until your newly planted trunks have pushed up new fronds, of course. In the meantime, any chance of emailing me an image of the frondless trunks in your garden? It would be great to hear from you - on or off-forum.

Steve Pope - Brighton, Sussex Coast, UK

Aloha Steve,
As soon as I figure out how to use my wifes digital camera, i will send you some pictures. I sure hope this is the right plant. There is not a lot of wild hapuu left on kauai as too many people have over harvested them here in the lower wet forests. Most of the Hapuu left are in the wet high elevation forests in really hard to get to places.

Yes, you're right about the degradation of the hapuu in the easily accessible (and more profitably developed) sea-level zones - those higher wet forests will be the last remaining areas apart from the odd remnant thicket. I'll look forward to any digital photos you can take, either in your own garden plot or from up in the forests. How near are you to the wild-growing specimens? Are they easily accessible or does it involve a major expedition to have another look? I'd love to know how it all fits in with your locality (I'm thousands of miles away, remember, and get such a vicarious thrill from first-hand location reports!)

Don't worry if it turns out to be something different - another hapuu species perhaps, or even one of the Sadleria ama'uma'u ferns...they too have tiny trunks. It all adds to the fascination for me.

Steve - Brighton, Sussex Coast, UK

I know for sure its not the ama'uma'u fern as that fern has a distinctive leaf. As to your question as to how far the ferns were found, its on the other side of the island and way up in the mountains(near the Waimea canyon) I dont get a chance to go up there very often, but the next time I do, I will take some pictures of the hapuu in the wild.

Yes, the frond shape of Cibotium (hapuu) is differently divided to Sadleria (ama'uma'u), so you've eliminated that possibility. Right, it's a Cibotium of some kind.

When you next get a chance to take a hike up near the Waimea Canyon (I must try and find it on a map) take some photos of the general habitat and the wild-growing tree ferns in context. The key diagnostic features are to be found on the underside of fertile (ie, spore bearing) fronds, so take some home to examine and photograph in close-up later.

This is all very interesting for me - botanic exploring by internet! Keep me posted...

Steve - Brighton, Sussex Coast, UK

PS In the meantime, any chance of a close-up digital image of your bare hapuu trunks in the garden...?

Sorry about that stephen. I have been quite busy at work and have not gotten the opportunity to take some photos of my Hapuu. I will take some photos soon and hopefully will be able to post it on this site. Since I last posted, my hapuu has a new leaf coming up. Also my neighbor gave me two keikis(pups) that have new leaf growth. These keikis were take from the same area in Kokee.