Hawai'i pritchardia facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Hawai'i pritchardia
Conservation status
Critically Endangered (IUCN 2.3)
Scientific classification
Genus:	Pritchardia
Species:	affinis

Pritchardia affinis, the Hawai'i pritchardia, is a species of palm tree that is endemic to the Hawaiian Islands. Wild populations currently exist on the leeward side of the Island of Hawaiʻi. It was most likely cultivated by Native Hawaiians, so its exact native range is uncertain. P. affinis reaches a height of 10–25 m (33–82 ft). It is threatened by rats and pigs, which damage the trees and eat the seeds before they can grow. It is a federally listed endangered species of the United States. Its fruit was reportedly the preferred food of the now-extinct ula-ai-hawane—a niche that has been seemingly filled by the introduced lavender waxbill.

Sample shown in the US Botanic Garden.