Global InformationArgyroxiphium grayanum information
| Argyroxiphium grayanum | |
|---|---|
| |
Conservation status
| |
 Critically Imperiled (NatureServe)[1][2] | |
Scientific classification 
| |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| Clade: | Tracheophytes |
| Clade: | Angiosperms |
| Clade: | Eudicots |
| Clade: | Asterids |
| Order: | Asterales |
| Family: | Asteraceae |
| Genus: | Argyroxiphium |
| Species: | A. grayanum
|
| Binomial name | |
| Argyroxiphium grayanum (Hillebr.) O.Deg.
| |
Argyroxiphium grayanum, commonly known as the greensword, is a species of flowering plant in the family Asteraceae, and a member of the silversword alliance, a group of over 50 species which are diverse in morphology and habitat but are genetically closely related.[3]
The silversword alliance provides a convincing natural case study in evolution by adaptive radiation, with the greensword representing one extreme of the genus' plasticity.[4] Some Argyroxiphium, including the well-known Haleakala and Mauna Kea silverswords, live in harsh alpine desert-like conditions of heat, sun, wind, and aridity, and are drought-adapted plants capable of storing water as a gel in leaf structures which are normally air pockets in other plants.[5] However, A. grayanum is a bog plant adapted to very different conditions – excessive moisture, lack of regular sunlight, and cool temperatures, and its leaves are non-succulent like those of the related genus Dubautia.[6]
- ^ "NatureServe Explorer Argyroxiphium grayanum". NatureServe Explorer Argyroxiphium grayanum. Arlington Virginia, United States of America: NatureServe. 3 June 2022. NatureServe Element Code:PDAST0P030. Retrieved 23 June 2022.
- ^ Faber-Langendoen, D; Nichols, J; Master, L; Snow, K; Tomaino, A; Bittman, R; Hammerson, G; Heidel, B; Ramsay, L; Teucher, A; Young, B (2012). NatureServe Conservation Status Assessments: Methodology for Assigning Ranks (PDF) (Report). Arlington, Virginia, United States of America: NatureServe.
- ^ "Adaptive Radiation of the Hawaiian Silversword Alliance: Origin and Relationships". 17 April 2000. Retrieved 17 December 2009.
- ^ "Adaptive Radiation of the Hawaiian Silversword Alliance: Ecological and Physiological Adaptations". University of Hawaii Botany Department. 22 March 1997. Retrieved 17 December 2009.
- ^ Carlquist, Sherwin (1980). Hawaii, a natural history: geology, climate, native flora and fauna above the shoreline. Lawai: Pacific Tropical Botanical Garden. pp. 264, 266.
- ^ "Adaptive Radiation of the Hawaiian Silversword Alliance: Leaf Morphology and Anatomy". University of Hawaii Botany Department. 14 February 2004. Retrieved 17 December 2009.