Species not native to the area in which they are found may be difficult to identify using locally-available references, since the geographic origin of the plant may be unknown.

In order to facilitate interactions between scientists and students, teachers, and the general public regarding natural history issues in Hawaii, the Bishop Museum in Honolulu is now providing a free service:

 Ask a Bishop Museum Scientist 

This is the mechanism we currently recommend to get answers to questions about unknown organisms in Hawaii.

(Archival HEAR mystery plants information is still available online, as well.)