A 1998 estimate places the total remaining population size around 1000 individual plants.

[1] It is a tree which grows 2 to 6 meters tall and bears white flowers.

It was federally listed as an endangered species in 1994.

[2] Like other Hawaiian Cyrtandra it is called ha`iwale.

[3] The plant grows in the wet forests of the two Hawaiian volcanoes and faces habitat degradation caused by feral pigs and cattle in the area.