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Kokia cookei
Also called Cooke's Kokio, Molokai Koki`o, Cooke's Koki'o, Molokaʻi Treecotton
Kokia cookei is a small, deciduous tree commonly known as the kokiʻo, Molokaʻi treecotton, Cooke's kokiʻo, or Molokaʻi kokiʻo. It is about 3 m (9.8 ft) in height, with simple leaves of 5 to 7 lobes, and large flowers. The fruit that the plant produces is composed of a five-lobed capsule that is dry and covered with short, dense hairs. The Kokia follows the typical flowering plant life cycle. It was distributed in the lowlands of the Hawaiian islands prior to going extinct in the wild in 1978. It survives only as grafted branches on other Kokia species trees. Conservation efforts, such as cultivation, are in place to attempt to nurse the species back to health. It is suspected that the species played a major role in the ecosystem through pollination but it is not confirmed.
This species is only known to have existed in the lowlands of the western Molokaʻi island in the Hawaiian Islands. Presumably, its native habitat was lowland dry forests on the leeward western end of the island. However, the complete natural range cannot be completely determined due to devastating and complete habitat loss of the dry forests on the Moloka'i island due to poor land practices. This landscape was destroyed by Polynesian settlers, around the year 1000 CE, to make room for agriculture. The species seems to have been noted by these settlers, as suggested by the native name hau heleʻula ("entirely red hau"). The three trees that were initially found grew near Mahana, northeast of Puu Nāna at approximately 200 metres (660 ft) elevation.
Hawai'i treecotton · Kauai treecotton · Wailupe Valley treecotton · Treecotton
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Kokia cookei by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0; the excerpts are shared under the same licence.
Life form, climate and native range: World Checklist of Vascular Plants, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (CC BY 3.0), reformatted; see Plants of the World Online.
