:Gouania meyenii

{{Short description|Species of flowering plant}}

{{Speciesbox

|image = Gouania meyenii (4743393931).jpg

|status=CR

|status_system=IUCN3.1

|status_ref={{cite iucn|author1=Keir, M.|author2=Kwon, J.|author3=Gon, S.M.|author4=Sugii, N.|author5=Chau, M.|author6=Bruegmann, M.|author7=Caraway, V.L.|author8=Sporck-Koehler, M.|year=2016|title=Gouania meyenii|errata=2017|page=e.T80090580A115500417|doi=10.2305/IUCN.UK.2016-1.RLTS.T80090580A80090595.en|access-date=18 June 2024}}

|status2 = G1

|status2_system = TNC

|status2_ref = {{cite web|url=https://explorer.natureserve.org/Taxon/ELEMENT_GLOBAL.2.128581/Gouania_meyenii|title=Gouania meyenii|website=NatureServe Network Biodiversity Location Data accessed through NatureServe Explorer|author=NatureServe|publisher=NatureServe|location=Arlington, Virginia|date=31 May 2024|access-date=18 June 2024}}

|genus = Gouania

|species = meyenii

|authority = Steud.

}}

Gouania meyenii is a rare species of flowering plant known by the common name smoothfruit chewstick{{citation needed|date=June 2024}} or Meyen's gouania. It is endemic to Hawaii, where it is known only from Oahu and Kauai. It is estimated that there are between 38 and 63 individuals of this species remaining in the wild.USFWS. [http://ecos.fws.gov/docs/five_year_review/doc3327.pdf Gouania meyenii Five-year Review.] August 2010. It is a federally listed endangered species of the United States.{{cite web|url=https://ecos.fws.gov/ecp/species/3893|title=No common name (Gouania meyenii)|website=Environmental Conservation Online System|publisher=U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service|access-date=18 June 2024}}{{cite journal|last1=Ellshoff|first1=Z.E.|last2=Yoshioka|first2=J.M.|last3=Canfield|first3=J.E.|last4=Herbst|first4=D.R.|journal=Federal Register|volume=56|issue=209|date=29 October 1991|title=Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants; Determination of Endangered Status for 26 Plants From the Waianae Mountains, Island of Oahu, Hawaii|pages=55770-55786}} {{Federal Register|56|55770}}

This is a shrub with stems growing erect or spreading{{citation needed|date=June 2024}} and growing up to {{convert|7|ft|m}} in height. The leaves have oval blades up to 7 centimeters long by 4.5 wide{{rp|55774}} borne on short petioles.{{citation needed|date=June 2024}} The inflorescence is a cyme of several flowers with tiny white petals and slightly larger white sepals no more than 3 millimeters long. The small winged fruit contains brown seeds.{{rp|55774}}

This shrub grows in dry or moist forest and shrubland habitat in the Waianae Mountains of Oahu and Nā Pali Coast State Park on Kauai. It is associated with other plants such as koa (Acacia koa), maile (Alyxia stellata), kookoolau (Bidens torta), lama (Diospyros sandwicensis), aalii (Dodonaea viscosa), and naenae (Dubautia plantaginea).

Threats to this rare species and its habitat include introduced plant species, such as mistflower (Ageratina riparia), silk oak (Grevillea robusta), airplant (Kalanchoe pinnata), lantana (Lantana camara), haole koa (Leucaena leucocephala). Feral pigs and feral goats degrade the habitat. Fire, rockslides, and landslides can also damage populations.