HONOLULU -- A Hawaiian plant species thought to be extinct for decades has been found on the Big Island.

The Nature Conservancy and Parker Ranch announced on Wednesday that staff discovered the Clermontia peleana singuliflora plant earlier this summer in a rainforest on the slopes of Mauna Kea volcano.

They were surveying a rare tree snail population on the ranch when they came upon a plant with greenish white flowers and dark green leaves. They could not identify it and so sent photographs to Thomas Lammers, a University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh expert.

"We were surveying a rare tree snail population when we came across a native lobelia plant that we were unable to identify," the Nature Conservancy's Big Island field representative Jon Giffin said.

He identified it as a species last seen on the Big Island in 1909 and last collected in East Maui in 1920.

Over 30 plants have been found since, and the conservancy has collected seeds to propagate the species.

"It will be another two or three months before we know if they germinate," said Giffin. "But we plan to collect more seeds in the future."

Senior scientist and cultural adviser for The Nature Conservancy of Hawaii Sam Gon called the heartening, but not surprising.

"In a place like Hawaii, with its rich native diversity, rugged terrain and remote places, there is always the potential for new and exciting discoveries," Gon said.