Accepted Scientific Name: Pritchardia kaalae Rock
Mem. Bernice Pauahi Bishop Mus. 8: 46 (1921)
Synonyms:
See all synonyms of Pritchardia kaalae
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Accepted name in llifle Database:Pritchardia kaalae RockMem. Bernice Pauahi Bishop Mus. 8: 46 (1921)Synonymy: 2
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Common Names include:
ENGLISH: Waianae Pritchardia, Loulu palm
HAWAIIAN (ʻŌlelo Hawaiʻi): Lo'ulu
Notes: The most worrisome of any potential threat to the Hawaiian Pritchardias is lethal yellowing, a palm disease that is slowly making its way through the tropical and subtropical zones of the Pritchardia kaalaeSN|28613]]SN|28613]]. It is most well known for its devastating effects on coconut trees, but Hawaiian Pritchardias planted in Florida as ornamentals have also proven to be extremely susceptible to the disease. The disease is fatal; there is currently no cure for it once a susceptible individual is infected with the disease. Lethal yellowing is caused by a “mycoplasma-like-organism”. The organism is transmitted by a sap-sucking plant hopper, Myndus crudus). Symptoms include the yellowing of the palm's fronds prior to its death. The disease is particularly frustrating because infected plants have an incubation period of from six months to two years before symptoms appear. The disease originated in islands in the Caribbean Sea, and is now known from many Caribbean islands, Florida and Texas in the United States of America, Central America, West Africa, and Tanzania in East Africa. The insect transmitter of the disease has not yet been found in Hawaii, so Hawaii is safe from this disease for now (Murakami 1999).