Dubautia waialealae

Dubautia waialealae, a distinctive member of the silversword alliance, takes the form of a dense, rounded, cushionlike clump 10 to 50 centimeters tall. The leaves are borne in tightly packed whorls. Yellow flowers are borne in heads. Blooming occurs in August through November.

Dubautia waialealae is endemic to Hawaii, where it is known only from Mount Waiʻaleʻale on Kauai. One individual was seen outside the range, about 14 kilometers away, but this plant is now dead. A recent count estimates a total population of about 3000 plants. The plant grows in boggy wet forest habitat on the mountain summit that is considered one of the rainiest spots on earth, if not the rainiest. It grows in habitat around the famous Mount Waiʻaleʻale rain gauge, which measures 460 inches (38.3 feet) of rain in an average year, its distribution extending a short way down the slopes of the mountain.