Kauaʻi record · kba_plant_casuarina_cunninghamiana
River Oak
Casuarina cunninghamiana
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About River Oak
River Oak (Casuarina cunninghamiana) is a post-contact introduced tree documented on Kauaʻi through historical forestry planting records. The reviewed records do not establish present survival. Native to stream banks and river floodplains of eastern and northern Australia and southeastern New Guinea. A 1980 forestry ledger documents a 1934 Kauaʻi planting; this is separate from records of other ironwoods and does not confirm present survival or reproduction.
Kauaʻi evidence
Taxonomic identity, tree form, diagnostic morphology and island occurrence use the linked reviewed sources. Historical planting, cultivation, naturalization and invasive status are separate. Generated imagery is not occurrence evidence. The 1918–1959 Kauaʻi reforestation working register records 1,791 plants under Casuarina cunninghamiana across 1 entries dated 1934. These are recorded planting quantities, not counts of surviving trees, and they do not by themselves establish current persistence, naturalization, or ecological impact. Source: Kauaʻi Reforestation Plantings 1918–1959 working register (user-supplied; reconciled 6 October 2026).
Names and classification
- Scientific name
- Casuarina cunninghamiana
- Common names
- River Oak · River sheoak
- Other names
- Casuarina cunninghamiana · River oak · River sheoak
- Record type
- Species
Kauaʻi occurrence and status
- Kauaʻi occurrence
- Recorded on Kauaʻi
- Origin
- Introduced
- Conservation status
- Not yet assessed
- Evidence date
- 2026-10-06
- Evidence limits
- Current survival on Kauaʻi, number of trees, occupied habitat, flowering or fruiting, recruitment, population trend, and ecological effects are all unconfirmed; no naturalization or invasive severity is inferred from the historical planting record.
Habitat and ecology
- Habitats
- Not yet assessed
- Food and resource needs
- Not yet assessed
- Reproduction
- Wind carries pollen from male spikes to female heads, and mature woody infructescences release small winged samaras. Kauaʻi sex balance, cone production, dispersal, and seedling recruitment are unconfirmed.
- Shelter
- Not yet assessed
- Growth form
- Tree
Threats and conservation
- Monitoring
- Not yet assessed
- Data gaps
- Current population extent and trajectory · Additional species-specific ecological and conservation sources
Process and seasonal context
- Seasonal timing
- Not yet assessed
- Seasonal description
- River Oak (Casuarina cunninghamiana) is a post-contact introduced tree documented on Kauaʻi through historical forestry planting records. The reviewed records do not establish present survival. Native to stream banks and river floodplains of eastern and northern Australia and southeastern New Guinea. A 1980 forestry ledger documents a 1934 Kauaʻi planting; this is separate from records of other ironwoods and does not confirm present survival or reproduction.