Kauaʻi record · kba_plant_spathodea_campanulata
African tulip tree
Spathodea campanulata
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About African tulip tree
Spathodea campanulata is native to tropical Africa and introduced in Hawaiʻi. A Hawaiʻi DLNR management plan names it among invasive plants of management concern in a Kauaʻi forest reserve, supporting documented island presence while not establishing its present island-wide extent. Its wind-dispersed seed and rapid growth in moist disturbed forest make canopy gaps, roadsides, and valley forests important surveillance and control settings. Bishop Museum’s 2025 checklist documents naturalized presence on Kauaʻi; current extent remains unassessed.
Kauaʻi evidence
Bishop Museum 2025 Checklist wide: Taxon=Spathodea campanulata; 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. The 1918–1959 Kauaʻi reforestation working register records 100 plants under Spathodea campanulata across 1 entries dated 1936. 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
- Spathodea campanulata
- Common names
- African tulip tree
- Other names
- African tulip tree · fountain tree · Spathodea campanulata
- 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
- Lowland wet/mesic disturbed forest and valleys
- 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
- Lowland invasive tree threat
- Conservation actions
- Remove seed trees, follow-up restoration
- Monitoring
- Remove seed trees, follow-up restoration
- Data gaps
- Additional ecological and conservation citations are recommended
Process and seasonal context
- Seasonal timing
- Not assessed
- Seasonal description
- Spathodea campanulata is native to tropical Africa and introduced in Hawaiʻi. A Hawaiʻi DLNR management plan names it among invasive plants of management concern in a Kauaʻi forest reserve, supporting documented island presence while not establishing its present island-wide extent. Its wind-dispersed seed and rapid growth in moist disturbed forest make canopy gaps, roadsides, and valley forests important surveillance and control settings. Bishop Museum’s 2025 checklist documents naturalized presence on Kauaʻi; current extent remains unassessed.
Sources and further reading
- https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Spathodea_campanulata_(African_tulip_tree)_in_Funchal,_january_2017.jpg
- https://powo.science.kew.org/taxon/urn%3Alsid%3Aipni.org%3Anames%3A110661-1/general-information
- https://www3.ctahr.hawaii.edu/invweed/weedshi.html
- https://powo.science.kew.org/taxon/urn%3Alsid%3Aipni.org%3Anames%3A110661-1
- 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/invasive-plants/do-not-plant-list/
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