Most species of delissea are extinct. On Hawai'i delissea is currently represented by delissea undulata, the largest delissea. These delissea once grew to over 30 feet tall among the koa trees on the slopes of Mauna Loa and Hualalai. They were thought extinct after the early 1970's, and The Manual even lists them as extinct, but a single individual was found in 1994 in the Pu'u Wa'awa'a area. The entire species is now descended from this single plant.

Delissea fallax and d. parviflora were the two extinct species, or possibly a single species, from the windward side of Hawai'i.