Rare shrub does
well as accent

Description: Small compact shrubs about a foot tall with soft, featherlike leaves. Its flowers protrude above the plant in tight little clusters. Each flower has white petals with a yellow center, almost like a daisy. Basically, as manly as I can say it, this plant is very cute.

Distribution: This endemic plant is rare and found only in a few spots in Oahu's Waianae Mountains. It was once found on Lanai, but this population is believed to have become extinct. A subspecies was also found on Maui in Haleakala, but it, too, is believed to be extinct.

Cultural uses: There are no known cultural uses for this plant, although with enough flower clusters, they would look very nice in leis. Because of their scarcity, I don't recommend going out and collecting them; buy them from a nursery, plant them in your yard and then collect the flowers.

Landscape use and care: This plant looks great as an accent around rocks. Plant them in full sun and be careful not to overwater them; once every few days should be enough. Too much water will cause them to wilt, rot and die. Check the soil to see if it is dry before watering again. Once the flowers are pollinated, the fallen seeds might germinate around the plant, which is a good thing because you want as many of these plants growing as possible, considering how rare it is.

Also: This plant is closely related to another plant called the Oahu or Makua daisy (Tetramolopium filiforme) and might hybridize with it, as well as other species in the genus. Just be careful not to plant them too close to each other, and don't plant them in the wild because almost all species of Tetramolopium in Hawaii are endangered or extinct, and you don't want to accidentally hybridize the few wild individuals that remain.