Kauaʻi record · kba_plant_sphaeropteris_cooperi
Australian Tree Fern
Sphaeropteris cooperi
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About Australian Tree Fern
Sphaeropteris cooperi is an eastern Australian tree fern introduced through horticulture and invasive in Hawaiian rain forests. DLNR’s Kauaʻi forest plan lists it as a management concern and reports mapping work by the Kauaʻi Watershed Alliance; this resolves island occurrence but does not establish its current range. Its fast growth, prolific spores, and failure to provide the same nurse-log function as native hāpuʻu make it a direct competitor in wet forest understories. Bishop Museum’s 2025 checklist documents naturalized presence on Kauaʻi; current extent remains unassessed.
Kauaʻi evidence
Bishop Museum 2025 Checklist wide: Taxon=Sphaeropteris cooperi; 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
- Sphaeropteris cooperi
- Common names
- Australian Tree Fern
- Other names
- Cyathea cooperi · Alsophila cooperi · Australian Tree Fern · Cooper’s tree fern · lacy tree fern · Sphaeropteris cooperi
- Record type
- species
Kauaʻi occurrence and status
- Kauaʻi occurrence
- Recorded on Kauaʻi
- Origin
- Introduced
- Conservation status
- Invasive-species management concern
- 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
- Terrestrial / managed landscapes / native ecosystems
- Food and resource needs
- Taxon-specific requirements under review
- Reproduction
- Not yet assessed
- Shelter
- Terrestrial / managed landscapes / native ecosystems
- Growth form
- Tree fern
Threats and conservation
- Threats
- Terrestrial / managed landscapes / native ecosystems
- Conservation actions
- eradication / containment / prevention — exact island objective requires live reconciliation
- Monitoring
- eradication / containment / prevention — exact island objective requires live reconciliation
- Data gaps
- Live extent/status and canonical linkage must be refreshed against current Atlas/agency data before final public release. · Establishment requirements need review
Process and seasonal context
- Seasonal timing
- Not yet assessed
- Seasonal description
- Sphaeropteris cooperi is an eastern Australian tree fern introduced through horticulture and invasive in Hawaiian rain forests. DLNR’s Kauaʻi forest plan lists it as a management concern and reports mapping work by the Kauaʻi Watershed Alliance; this resolves island occurrence but does not establish its current range. Its fast growth, prolific spores, and failure to provide the same nurse-log function as native hāpuʻu make it a direct competitor in wet forest understories. Bishop Museum’s 2025 checklist documents naturalized presence on Kauaʻi; current extent remains unassessed.
Sources and further reading
- Invasive-species management source
- https://powo.science.kew.org/taxon/urn%3Alsid%3Aipni.org%3Anames%3A17532470-1
- https://dlnr.hawaii.gov/hisc/info/invasive-species-profiles/australian-tree-fern/
- https://dlnr.hawaii.gov/forestry/files/2013/02/Lihue-Koloa_Sept2010_FINAL.pdf
- https://plantpono.org/high-risk-plants/sphaeropteris-cooperi/
- https://hbs.bishopmuseum.org/publications/pdf/tr75.pdf