A few nights ago I was watching a program on Nat Geo that discussed the remarkable unique species of fish and other wildlife that live and flourish in the Northern Hawaiian islands (which stretches approximately 1500 miles from The Big Island up). Having not been touched by human civilization, they discussed how each individual island has its own ecosystem, in turn each island having its own species. No cross breeding. Immaculate and untouched for decades. This just goes to show how our islands yield wildlife that are only found on our islands. Another example is the silversword (sometimes known as greenswords). This species of plant is endemic to Hawai'i because of the climates they need to survive: 4,900 feet above sea level in alpine deserts "indicating an adaption to low-nutrient soils." The Ka'u (Mauna Loa silversword) can be found in rocky lava flows, bogs and open forests. Because of their limited environment for survival and being susceptible to damage by goats, pigs and other invasive species of animals and plants, they've ended up on the endangered species list. "Their shallow root systems are easily crushed in the boggy soil or loose volcanic cinders they grown in."
To celebrate our aboriginal plant, we put together a shirt printed on black with a graphic of the silversword in one of it's various flowering stages, purple with tonal trilocks covering the tee. Dropping alongside this is a new custom Kamehameha: dipped in all black with a red Kam logo. The usual, very limited in numbers.
