THE SPECTACULAR Haleakala silversword (Argyroxiphium sandwichense) is descended from a nondescript group of small herby to scrubby, sticky, daisy-like plants known as tarweeds which grow on the Pacific coast of America. Their seeds, transported to Hawaii by wind or on the plumage of birds, have evolved into a varied range of species — creeping lianes, shrubs, close- knit mats, large-leaved herbs and cabbage tree-like plants. The Haleakala silversword flowers only once, taking five to 25 years to gather sufficient moisture from volcanic soils to send up a magnificent spike two metres tall, covered in purplered daisy flowers. While bearing no physical resemblance to its ancestors it can still hybridise successfully with mat-forming tarweeds native to the California coast.

Forest and Bird, Issue 268, 1 May 1993, Page 13

THE SPECTACULAR Haleakala silversword (Argyroxiphium sandwichense) is descended from a nondescript group of small herby to scrubby, sticky, daisy-like plants known as tarweeds which grow on the Pacific coast of America. Their seeds, transported to Hawaii by wind or on the plumage of birds, have evolved into a varied range of species — creeping lianes, shrubs, closeknit mats, large-leaved herbs and cabbage tree-like plants. The Haleakala silversword flowers only once, taking five to 25 years to gather sufficient moisture from volcanic soils to send up a magnificent spike two metres tall, covered in purplered daisy flowers. While bearing no physical resemblance to its ancestors it can still hybridise successfully with mat-forming tarweeds native to the California coast.