 A proposal for listing A. brownii under the U.S. Endangered Species Act was originally submitted on June 16 , 1976 , but was withdrawn on December 10 , 1979 as out of date and incomplete . It was proposed again on March 24 , 1993 , and was federally listed as an endangered species on August 21 , 1996 . On May 22 , 2003 , the FWS designated 171 acres ( 69 ha ) on the island of Nihoa as a critical habitat for A. brownii , as well as Pritchardia <unk> , <unk> verticillata , and two other species also found on Nihoa and other Hawaiian islands , <unk> ( <unk> tomentosa ) and <unk> <unk> . In the same year , A. brownii was internationally classified as critically endangered on the IUCN Red List . As of 2010 , A. brownii was one of 51 Hawaiian plant species listed as endangered or threatened under the Endangered Species Act . 
