Kauaʻi record · kba_plant_miconia_calvescens
Miconia
Miconia calvescens
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About Miconia
Miconia calvescens is a tropical American wet-forest tree and one of Hawaiʻi’s highest-priority invasive plants. DLNR states that populations occur on Kauaʻi, and the Kauaʻi forest plan records survey and control near a state forest reserve, so “occurrence needs confirmation” is obsolete even though present extent remains dynamic. Dense shade, massive seed production, bird dispersal, and a long-lived soil seed bank justify continued early detection and eradication work. Bishop Museum’s 2025 checklist documents naturalized presence on Kauaʻi; current extent remains unassessed.
Kauaʻi evidence
Bishop Museum 2025 Checklist wide: Taxon=Miconia calvescens; Status=nat; K=K🕱. Identification and ecological statements have the separately linked reviewed sources. The checklist establishes documented island presence; it does not establish current abundance or invasion extent.
Names and classification
- Scientific name
- Miconia calvescens
- Common names
- Miconia
- Other names
- Miconia · velvet tree · purple plague · Miconia calvescens
- Family
- Melastomataceae
- Order
- Myrtales
- Record type
- Species or taxonomic group
Kauaʻi occurrence and status
- Kauaʻi occurrence
- Recorded on Kauaʻi
- Origin
- Introduced
- Conservation status
- Conservation priority; formal rank not listed
- Evidence date
- 2026-10-05
- Evidence limits
- Current extent and population trajectory require refreshed surveys; public occurrence is island level only.
Habitat and ecology
- Habitats
- Wet forest invasion risk zones
- Food and resource needs
- Light, water, nutrients, and suitable soil or substrate
- Reproduction
- Viable propagules and suitable establishment conditions
- Shelter
- Suitable soil, substrate, and vegetation structure
- Growth form
- Tree
Threats and conservation
- Threats
- Major watershed and native forest threat
- Conservation actions
- Early detection, rapid response, aerial/ground surveys
- Monitoring
- Early detection, rapid response, aerial/ground surveys
- Data gaps
- Additional ecological and conservation citations are recommended
Process and seasonal context
- Seasonal timing
- Not assessed
- Seasonal description
- Miconia calvescens is a tropical American wet-forest tree and one of Hawaiʻi’s highest-priority invasive plants. DLNR states that populations occur on Kauaʻi, and the Kauaʻi forest plan records survey and control near a state forest reserve, so “occurrence needs confirmation” is obsolete even though present extent remains dynamic. Dense shade, massive seed production, bird dispersal, and a long-lived soil seed bank justify continued early detection and eradication work. Bishop Museum’s 2025 checklist documents naturalized presence on Kauaʻi; current extent remains unassessed.
Sources and further reading
- https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Starr_031118-0095_Miconia_calvescens.jpg
- https://dlnr.hawaii.gov/hisc/info/biocontrol/latest-biocontrol/miconia-calvescens/
- https://www3.ctahr.hawaii.edu/invweed/weedshi.html
- https://dlnr.hawaii.gov/forestry/files/2013/02/Lihue-Koloa_Sept2010_FINAL.pdf
- https://hbs.bishopmuseum.org/publications/pdf/tr75.pdf
- https://www.kauaiisc.org/pests/miconia/
