USING NATIVE HAWAIIAN PLANTS IN LANDSCAPING WILL PROMOTE AWARENESS AND CREATE NEW DEPOSITS OF NATIVE FLORA Plant local!  We know there’s debate about how strongly native Hawaiian species like `ohi`a lehua should be emphasized in local landscaping projects.  Often plants are chosen based on availability, popularity, ease of growth and economics.  Here’s another consideration that hits closer to home.  Hawaii’s native plants face a multitude of threats in their natural environments (fueling our infamous title of “endangered species capitol of the world”).  Use of native species in landscaping efforts will not only showcase and promote an awareness of the unique beauty of Hawaiian flora, but done wisely can also create “repositories” of genetic stock.  However, given the findings of our research and related studies on the evolution and biogeography of Hawaii’s flora, we strongly urge the landscape industry to keep native species as local to their source as possible and leave genetic introductions to conservation managers. Hawai`i is an unprecedented natural laboratory for experiments in local adaptation and speciation (the... ...