Brighamia insignis

My own personal Brighamia insignis was a gift to me from a former professor of mine after I graduated from undergrad. He was very excited to give it to me because he new that I loved succulents and he always wanted me to take his extremely rare plants that he had to many of, despite me usually turning him down because I wasn’t interested in whatever it was. He ended up forcing Brighamia insignis because he said it was endangered and that it was super rare, and that he had 3 others and that this was the smallest one and wasn’t worth keeping around. I made sure to thank him after figuring out if he was insulting me or not with this gesture. 

General Info

Brighamia insignis is a Critically Endangered caudiciform with a large thick succulent stem with a rosette of bright green spoon shaped leaves at the top. Brighamia insignis is native to the Hawaiian islands, being one of the two members of the Brighamia, genius. Both species are critically endangered because the hawk moth that polinates them has gone extinct in the areas where the small remaining populations exist. That said there are botanists that go to the rocky cliffs where the remaining 45-65 wild Brighamia insignis remain and pollinate them by hand, a difficult feat indeed. That said, Brighamia insignis is a seemingly easy to keep caudiciform, that enjoys bright full sun and regular waterings. It also from my own personal experience seems to enjoy a soil that retains water a little more than a typical cactus and succulent soil, doing just fine in a standard potting mix. It should also be noted that Brighamia insignis has more delicate and sensitive roots than most other plants in my collection and the upmost care should be taken when repotting it to avoid breaking off it’s root ball. Also in my experience this plant will not hesitate to start quickly dropping leaves if it is left without water for extended periods of time. I imagine that its thick water retaining stem would keep it from dying completely for long periods of time though. I would recommend Brighamia insignis to the most avid of succulent and caudiciform collectors because it may not be exceptionally hard to care for, but its probably very hard to come by. Other than that Brighamia insignis is a moderately easy to care for plant that will hopefully recover from the brink of extinction in the wild in our life time. 

Characteristics

Native to: Hawaii, Critically Endangered in the wild

Height: 16 FEET max, usually between 3-6 feet

Spread: 2-3 feet max

Hardiness: to 40°F+

Light Requirements: Light Shade to Bright Sun

Water Requirements: Moderate (average to heavy for succulents)

Flowers: small white flowers in late fall to winter

Other: Caudiciform, easy to “bonsai”, especially rare.

Species Classification

Kingdom: Plantae

Clade: Angiosperms

Clade: Eudicots

Clade: Asterids

Order: Asterales

Family: Campanulaceae

Subfamily: Lobelioideae

Genus: Brighamia

Species: B. insignis