Native Hawaiian Flowers are a Global Legacy

Hawaiʻiʻ's endemic mint, Stenogyne calaminthoides

NPS Photo by Jay Robinson

News Release Date: April 20, 2012

Contact: Jessica Ferracane, 808-985-6018

Park kicks off 25th anniversary of World Heritage with After Dark program, Apr. 24

Hawaii National Park, Hawaiʻi - U.S. Geological Survey botanist and author Linda Pratt will present the story of the amazing and beautiful native flowering plants, both endemic and indigenous, that thrive in Hawaiʻi Volcanoes National Park. The program, "Hawaiian Flowers: A Celebration of World Heritage," is a special After Dark in the Park presentation on Tues., Apr. 24 at 7 p.m. in the Kīlauea Visitor Center Auditorium.

Because it's National Park Week (Apr. 21-29), there is no fee to enter the park. In 1987, Hawaiʻi Volcanoes was designated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site due in part to the high number of endemic species it protects. This year, the park celebrates its 25th anniversary of World Heritage inscription by offering a series of special programs about the natural and cultural resources in the park.     
      
The park is one of only 21 World Heritage sites in the United States, and 936 worldwide. Today, people from around the world come to experience its natural and cultural wonders, found nowhere else on earth.

Pratt is co-author of the book, Hawaiʻi's Plants and Animals: Biological Sketches of Hawaiʻi Volcanoes National Park.

-NPS-

 

Botanist Linda Pratt in the forest

NPS Photo