Dubautia are a large and varied genus of Hawai'i, with 23 species. The various species can interbreed with each other, and also with the closely related silverswords and greenswords, producing a variety of hybrids. They aren't as flashy as their silversword cousins, so they don't get the attention they deserve.

Dubautia scabra is a conspicuous and very attractive green plant on fresh and relatively barren lava fields, but can also take on an untidy sprawling form in wetter forests. Both dubautia arborea and dubautia ciliolata are easy to see along the road to the summit of Mauna Kea, if you look carefully. Another form of dubautia ciliolata is abundant at the summit of Kilauea, along the more barren areas of the caldera rim.