Panicum niihauense
species of plant
Panicum niihauense is a rare species of grass known by the common names lau ʻehu and Niʻihau panicgrass. It is endemic to Hawaii, where it has been found on the islands of Niʻihau and Kauaʻi. It has not been observed on Niʻihau since 1949, and there are fewer than 40 individuals remaining on Kauaʻi, not counting a few individuals that have been deliberately planted in appropriate habitat. The grass is a federally listed endangered species of the United States.
The only naturally occurring specimens of the grass grow in Polihale State Park. There they grow on sand dunes and they are threatened by the use of off-road vehicles. The habitat is also impacted by the invasion of non-native plants such as Chloris barbata (swollen fingergrass), Leucaena leucocephala (haole koa), Prosopis pallida (kiawe), Atriplex semibaccata (Australian saltbush), and Verbesina encelioides (golden crown-beard).
The public source identifies “Panicum niihauense” as species of plant. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Panicum, niihauense and species.
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Stable identifiers, scientific names and standards terminology offer the best bridge between this overview and specialist evidence. The source revision retrieved here is dated Jul 13, 2025. The linked authority identifier is Q7131135. None of the 0 selected statements returned an explicit reference. The first chronological checks are 1949.
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This entry incorporates text from “Panicum niihauense” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.