Kauaʻi record · kba_plant_pyracantha_koidzumii
Taiwan Firethorn
Pyracantha koidzumii
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About Taiwan Firethorn
Taiwan Firethorn (Pyracantha koidzumii) is an introduced tree documented on Kauaʻi by Bishop Museum’s 2025 checklist and the 2026 Smithsonian checklist. Its checklist classification is naturalized; current extent is unassessed. Native to Taiwan in thickets, rocky valleys, coastal bluffs, and disturbed vegetation. Dense thorny branching and bird-dispersed pomes support persistence. Bishop Museum and Smithsonian document naturalized Kauaʻi occurrence; current abundance and effects are unmeasured.
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
- Pyracantha koidzumii
- Common names
- Taiwan Firethorn
- Other names
- Pyracantha koidzumii · Taiwan firethorn · Cotoneaster koidzumii
- 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
- 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
- White flowers are insect-pollinated and mature into clustered orange-red pomes consumed by birds. Local pollinators, dispersers, seed dormancy, and recruitment are unmeasured.
- Shelter
- Not yet assessed
- Growth form
- Thorny 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
- Taiwan Firethorn (Pyracantha koidzumii) is an introduced tree documented on Kauaʻi by Bishop Museum’s 2025 checklist and the 2026 Smithsonian checklist. Its checklist classification is naturalized; current extent is unassessed. Native to Taiwan in thickets, rocky valleys, coastal bluffs, and disturbed vegetation. Dense thorny branching and bird-dispersed pomes support persistence. Bishop Museum and Smithsonian document naturalized Kauaʻi occurrence; current abundance and effects are unmeasured.
Sources and further reading
- https://powo.science.kew.org/taxon/urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:730619-1
- https://efloras.org/florataxon.aspx?flora_id=2&taxon_id=200011177
- 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