Kauaʻi record · kba_plant_hesperocyparis_lusitanica
Mexican Cypress
Hesperocyparis lusitanica
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About Mexican Cypress
Mexican Cypress (Hesperocyparis lusitanica) is a post-contact introduced tree documented on Kauaʻi through historical forestry planting records. The reviewed records do not establish present survival. Native to Mexico through Nicaragua in subtropical montane forest. A 1980 forestry ledger documents Kauaʻi planting in 1947, 1948, 1957; it does not establish current survival, reproduction, or naturalization.
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 800 plants under Cupressus lusitanica across 4 entries dated 1947–1957. 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
- Hesperocyparis lusitanica
- Common names
- Mexican Cypress · Cedar of Goa
- Other names
- Hesperocyparis lusitanica · Mexican cypress · Cedar of Goa · Cupressus lusitanica
- 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
- Separate pollen and seed cones occur on the same tree; wind pollination is followed by woody cones that mature and release winged seeds. Kauaʻi cone production, seed viability, and recruitment are unknown.
- Shelter
- Not yet assessed
- Growth form
- Evergreen coniferous 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
- Mexican Cypress (Hesperocyparis lusitanica) is a post-contact introduced tree documented on Kauaʻi through historical forestry planting records. The reviewed records do not establish present survival. Native to Mexico through Nicaragua in subtropical montane forest. A 1980 forestry ledger documents Kauaʻi planting in 1947, 1948, 1957; it does not establish current survival, reproduction, or naturalization.