Kauaʻi record · kba_plant_morinda_citrifolia
Noni
Morinda citrifolia
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About Noni
Noni (Morinda citrifolia) is a Polynesian-introduced tree documented on Kauaʻi by Bishop Museum’s 2025 checklist and the 2026 Smithsonian checklist. Its checklist classification is Polynesian-introduced; current extent is unassessed. A strand and lowland tree native across parts of tropical Asia and the Pacific and transported widely by people. It tolerates coastal exposure and a range of lowland conditions. Bishop Museum classifies Kauaʻi plants as Polynesian-introduced rather than naturalized, and a 2015 government forest-reserve survey independently records the tree; neither source measures current abundance.
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.
Names and classification
- Scientific name
- Morinda citrifolia
- Common names
- Noni · Indian mulberry
- Other names
- Morinda citrifolia · Noni · Indian mulberry
- Record type
- Species
Kauaʻi occurrence and status
- Kauaʻi occurrence
- Recorded on Kauaʻi
- Origin
- Polynesian introduction
- Conservation status
- Not yet assessed
- Evidence date
- 2026-10-06
- Evidence limits
- Present island-wide abundance, occupied habitat, recruitment, population trend, and ecological effects have not been quantified; no invasive severity is inferred from checklist or forestry status.
Habitat and ecology
- Habitats
- Not yet assessed
- Food and resource needs
- Not yet assessed
- Reproduction
- Many flowers in each head fuse into a compound, many-seeded fruit. Fruit maturation, animal or water movement, and seedling establishment enable sexual reproduction, while damaged plants may resprout; Kauaʻi-specific dispersal and recruitment have not been measured.
- Shelter
- Not yet assessed
- Growth form
- Shrub or small 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
- Noni (Morinda citrifolia) is a Polynesian-introduced tree documented on Kauaʻi by Bishop Museum’s 2025 checklist and the 2026 Smithsonian checklist. Its checklist classification is Polynesian-introduced; current extent is unassessed. A strand and lowland tree native across parts of tropical Asia and the Pacific and transported widely by people. It tolerates coastal exposure and a range of lowland conditions. Bishop Museum classifies Kauaʻi plants as Polynesian-introduced rather than naturalized, and a 2015 government forest-reserve survey independently records the tree; neither source measures current abundance.
Sources and further reading
- https://powo.science.kew.org/taxon/urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:756359-1
- https://www.efloras.org/florataxon.aspx?flora_id=2&taxon_id=200022155
- https://hbs.bishopmuseum.org/publications/pdf/tr75.pdf
- https://editedimages.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/Imadaetal.2025Hawaiianvascularplants.xlsx
- https://doi.org/10.5479/si.32124043
- https://dlnr.hawaii.gov/forestry/files/2013/02/2015_NK_management_plan_final.pdf