The Native Hawaiian Plant Society's website states that their mission is to preserve and protect the native plants of Hawaii and to increase public awareness through education. To achieve this they "work cooperatively with government agencies, public and private groups and individuals on protection, restoration, and educational projects which benefit native Hawaiian plants and ecosystems."
Ma'o Hau Hele, Hibiscus brackenridgei, is an endemic species of Hawaii and the official state flower. It is found on all the islands but is not common.
Hawaiian Heritage Plants by 
A Native Hawaiian Garden by 
Hawaii's Native Plants by 
Hawaii’s botanical discovery may have begun with Captain Cook’s third voyage to the island in 1776. On board was the unassuming young botanist David Nelson from England. This four year journey uncovered several new species which have been rarely studied. Seven years later he was appointed botanist of the HMS Bounty lead by Captain Bligh and was part of the group that was cast adrift in a small boat. He survived this grueling trip and landed safely in Timor where he very shortly thereafter began collecting botanical specimens—but he soon succumbed to fever.
David Douglas (1799-1834) was born in Scotland and trained as a botanist in Glasgow. Besides his overwhelming discoveries of firs in the great northwest he also traveled to Hawaii several times during his short lifetime.
