Vigna owahuensis
species of plant
Vigna owahuensis is a rare species of flowering plant in the legume family known by the common name Oahu cowpea.
Distribution
It is endemic to Hawaii, where it is known from seven small populations on the islands of Hawaii, Molokai, Lanai, and Kahoolawe. Though it was described from a specimen collected on Oahu it is now extirpated from that island. It was also known from Niihau, Maui, and Kauai in the past.
This plant grows in many types of shrubland and grassland habitat, as well as in some cultivated areas. It occurs on cinder cones and offshore islets and exposed coral reefs.
Description
Vigna owahuensis is an annual or perennial herb growing up to 40 cm (16 in) long. Each leaf has three hairy leaflets of widely varying shape and size. Flowers occur singly or in clusters of up to four. They are light yellow or greenish in color and are about 2 or 2.5 cm (0.79 or 0.98 in) long.
Begin with the source’s own compact description: “Vigna owahuensis” is species of plant. The dossier treats that line as a proposition to test through Vigna, owahuensis and species, not as a finished interpretation.
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The phrase “species of plant” supplies a clear boundary for inquiry. It also exposes the unanswered questions: who defined that boundary, when it became stable and which sources sit outside it.
The date and method of observation matter as much as the stated conclusion, especially where classification or consensus has changed. The source revision retrieved here is dated Jan 23, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q7928946. None of the 0 selected statements returned an explicit reference.
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This entry incorporates text from “Vigna owahuensis” 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.