Previous plant

Brighamia rockii

Next plant


Image of Brighamia rockii courtesy Missouri Botanical Garden.

Author:  Harold St. John, 1969
Family:  CAMPANULACEAE
Origin:  Molokai Island  Hawaii
Soil:  Mix
Water:  Maximum
Sun:  Maximum
Thickness:  25 Centimetres
Height:  5 Meters
Flower:  White
Propagate:  Seeds
Names:  Alula, 'Olulu, Pu Aupaka, Pua 'Ala.
Synonyms:  Brighamia remyi.
Brighamia rockii ssp. longiloba.

This member of the Campanulaceae family was described by Harold St. John in 1969. It is only found on the Hawaiian island Molokai. It grows on the hill-sides in well-drained soil with some water and lots of sun. It can grow to 5 meters with a stem 25 centimetres in diameter, and the flowers are white. Forrest Anderson send me some seeds from CSSA seed depot.

Prefer temperatures around 20-25 C.

The genus name: Brighamia, is named after William Tufts Brigham, 1841-1926, geologist, botanist and the first direction of the Bernice P. Bishop Museum, Honolulu, Hawaiʻi. The specific name rockii is named for Joseph Frances Charles Rock,1884-1962, an Austrian-American botanist who did much to help our current understanding of native Hawaiian plants.

Sadly, there are now fewer than 200 Brighamia rockii, plants growing on Moloka’i, I'm told.


The flowers by Forest and Kim Starr, Wikimedia.org.