The summit environment of the Haleakala Volcano appears to be hostile to plants. Yet in this rocky, wind-blasted desert, the Halaeakala Silversword ('Ahinahina) survived. It is believed that the plant evolved from a California Tarweed that arrived here millions of years ago, perhaps "hitch-hiking" on a bird. This plant is an indigenous and ENDANGERED plant of Hawaii. It consists of a rosette of narrow, pointed (swordlike) leaves densely covered by silver hairs that form a sphere. During the summer months, it sends up a spectacular flowering stalk that can reach six feet in height. Each stalk produces hundred of maroon sunflowerlike flower heads. The Haleakala silversword is found in the crater and outer slopes of Haleakala Volcano from the 6,890 to 9,843-ft elevation. The silversword flowers only once, at the end of its lifetime, produces seeds and dies. Some plants are know to live 15 years or more.