Kauaʻi record · kba_plant_senegalia_catechu
Cutch tree
Senegalia catechu
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About Cutch tree
Cutch tree (Senegalia catechu) is a post-contact introduced tree documented on Kauaʻi through historical forestry planting records. The reviewed records do not establish present survival. Native from the Indian subcontinent through mainland Southeast Asia to southern China, in seasonally dry woodland, open forest and riverine disturbed ground. Insect-pollinated spikes produce flattened pods with hard-coated seeds; as a mimosoid legume the tree forms nitrogen-fixing root-nodule symbioses.
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 413 plants under Acacia catechu across 1 entries dated 1926. 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
- Senegalia catechu
- Common names
- Cutch tree · black cutch · khair
- Other names
- Senegalia catechu · cutch tree · black cutch · khair · Acacia catechu
- Record type
- Species
Kauaʻi occurrence and status
- Kauaʻi occurrence
- Recorded on Kauaʻi
- Origin
- Introduced
- Conservation status
- Not yet assessed
- Evidence date
- 2026-10-05
- Evidence limits
- Current extent is unassessed; public locality is island level only.
Habitat and ecology
- Habitats
- Not yet assessed
- Food and resource needs
- Not yet assessed
- Reproduction
- Not yet assessed
- Shelter
- Not yet assessed
- Growth form
- Woody 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
- Cutch tree (Senegalia catechu) is a post-contact introduced tree documented on Kauaʻi through historical forestry planting records. The reviewed records do not establish present survival. Native from the Indian subcontinent through mainland Southeast Asia to southern China, in seasonally dry woodland, open forest and riverine disturbed ground. Insect-pollinated spikes produce flattened pods with hard-coated seeds; as a mimosoid legume the tree forms nitrogen-fixing root-nodule symbioses.
Sources and further reading
- https://powo.science.kew.org/taxon/urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:77089268-1
- https://efloras.org/florataxon.aspx?flora_id=2&taxon_id=200011847
- https://powo.science.kew.org/taxon/urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:77089268-1/general-information
- https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC6923495/
- https://research.fs.usda.gov/treesearch/38021
- https://research.fs.usda.gov/download/treesearch/47617.pdf
- https://hbs.bishopmuseum.org/publications/pdf/tr75.pdf