Each "thumbnail" image below is linked to a larger photograph.
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Haleakala silversword, Argyroxiphium sandwicense ssp. macrocephalum.
Larry, a.k.a. Gerry Carr, has been studying biosystematics, hybridization, and
cytogenetics of the silversword and its relatives in Hawaii for the past 27 years. Moe,
a.k.a. Robert Robichaux, has done extensive work on the physiological ecology, and more
recently, population genetics of this group. Curly, a.k.a. Bruce Baldwin, has established
the molecular phylogeny of the silversword group and its ties to North American ancestors
that are sometimes called tarweeds. (photo 1991, Haleakala, E. Maui) |
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Chief guru of tarweedology Donald W. Kyhos inspects Dubautia arborea, a
species
that, in spite of its very distinctive appearance, hybridizes spontaneously with the Mauna
Kea silversword. (photo 1976, near Pu'u La'au, Hawai'i) |
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Tarweed goo specialists (actually phytochemists) Bruce Bohm (l) and Bill Crins (r)
pondering the constituents of the sticky exudates of Dubautia sherffiana, while
Leslie Bohm (c) plans the next Thai restaurant stop. (photo 1986, Mt. Ka'ala, O'ahu) |
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Members of the tarweed subtribe (Madiinae) of the sunflower tribe (Heliantheae) of the
aster family (Asteraceae), the Hawaiian silversword alliance consists of about
30 species
in three genera (Argyroxiphium, Dubautia, and Wilkesia). The species exhibit an extraordinary range of anatomical, morphological,
and ecological adaptations but are exceedingly closely related as judged by data from
biosystematics and molecular studies. The evidence favors the conclusion that all of this
diversity evolved from a single ancestor that colonized Hawaii by way of long-distance
dispersal from North America. More information on adaptive radiation, hybridization, and
evolution of this group is linked here. For further information and photos
related to individual species, click on a genus below. |
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