General Information

Habitat Requirements

Schiedea kealiae is usually found on steep slopes and cliff faces and bases in dry remnant Erythrina sandwicensis forest at elevations between 46 and 341 m (151 and 1,118 ft). Associated native plants include Psydrax odorata (alahee), Bidens amplectens (kookoolau), Hibiscus arnottianus (kokio keokeo), Lepidium bidentatum (anaunau), Melanthera remyi (nehe), Plumbago zeylanica (iliee), Sicyos microcarpa (anunu), Myoporum sandwicense (naio), Sida fallax (ilima), Sapindus oahuensis (lonomea), Rauvolfia sandwicensis (hao), Reynoldsia sandwicensis (ohe ohe), Dodonaea viscosa (aalii), Hibiscus brackenridgei ssp. mokuleianus (mao hau hele), Nototrichium humile (kului), Hibiscus kokio (kokio), and Peperomia sp. (ala ala wai nui).

Movement / Home Range

Historically, Schiedea kealiae occurred on Oahu in the northern Waianae Mountains including Mokuleia (Hatheway 1952), and was collected once from the Palikea area, near the southern end of the same mountain range. Currently, Schiedea kealiae occurs at (Kealia) in the Waianae mountains of Oahu.

Reproductive Strategy

Schiedea kealiae has been observed in flower in December. A series of self- pollinations, within-population crosses, and crosses among occurrences has demonstrated that many related Schiedea species experience moderately strong inbreeding depression. These results indicate that reductions in population size could result in expression of inbreeding depression among progeny, with potentially deleterious consequences for the long- term persistence of the species. Individuals of Schiedea kealiae appear to be long-lived; however, there is no evidence of regeneration from seed under field conditions. Seedlings of Schiedea species occurring in mesic or wet sites are apparently consumed by introduced slugs and snails, which have been observed feeding on Schiedea membranacea, a mesic forest species from Kauai. In contrast, Schiedea occurring in dry areas produce abundant seedlings following winter rains, presumably because dry areas have fewer nonnative predators.

Other

In 1936, Hosaka collected a specimen of Schiedea kealiae on Oahu that he named for Kealia where it was collected (Caum and Hosaka 1936). Schiedea gregoriana is considered synonymous with S. kealiae by the authors of the current treatment of the family (Degener 1936, Sherff 1945, Wagner et al. 1990).