Pacific Hibiscus Species (Malvaceae) in sect. Lilibiscus. 2. Hibiscus kaute sp. nov., a Missing Link from Eastern Polynesia

Recent linguistic, morphological, and DNA studies have shown that the Polynesian hibiscus known as kaute - koute, 'aute, and other cognates - is an undescribed eastern Polynesian Hibiscus species in sect. Lilibiscus. It is described here as Hibiscus kaute L.A.J. Thomson & Butaud, and appears to be extremely rare, if not extinct in the wild. The French botanist Jean Nadeaud (1873) recorded 'aute in a wild state during the 1850s at the end of Pirae valley (Nahoata) and elsewhere in the interior of Tahiti where it grew on cliff faces. The original wild form - with a single whorl of petals - is also rare in cultivation, both in French Polynesia and elsewhere in the South Pacific Islands. The medicinal Polynesian double-flowered form is uncommon in cultivation and often mistaken for recently-introduced cultivars. As well as being of great cultural importance to Polynesians, kaute is arguably the most significant species in the development of modern Hibiscus hybrids and a missing link in understanding the origins of H. rosa-sinensis. Ex situ conservation measures are urgently needed in French Polynesia (Tahiti and Marquesas Islands) and, internationally, in botanic gardens, for this important progenitor species of Lilibiscus hybrids.