Kauaʻi record · kba_plant_styphnolobium_japonicum
Japanese Pagoda Tree
Styphnolobium japonicum
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About Japanese Pagoda Tree
Japanese Pagoda Tree (Styphnolobium japonicum) is a post-contact introduced tree documented on Kauaʻi through historical forestry planting records. The reviewed records do not establish present survival. Native to China in temperate woodland, although long cultivation has broadened its range. Government forestry records document historical planting of Styphnolobium japonicum on Kauaʻi. Planting evidence alone does not establish present survival, naturalization, abundance, or ecological impact. Current survival, naturalization, abundance and ecological effects are unconfirmed. Public occurrence is island-level only.
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 16 plants under Sophora japonica across 1 entries dated 1927. 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
- Styphnolobium japonicum
- Common names
- Japanese Pagoda Tree · Scholar tree
- Other names
- Styphnolobium japonicum · Japanese pagoda tree · Scholar tree · Sophora japonica
- 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
- Current survival on Kauaʻi, numbers, occupied habitat, reproduction and ecological effects are unconfirmed; historical planting does not establish naturalization.
Habitat and ecology
- Habitats
- Not yet assessed
- Food and resource needs
- Not yet assessed
- Reproduction
- Pea flowers are insect-pollinated; indehiscent necklace-like pods contain several hard seeds. Kauaʻi flowering, pod maturation, viability, and recruitment are unknown.
- Shelter
- Not yet assessed
- Growth form
- Deciduous 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
- Japanese Pagoda Tree (Styphnolobium japonicum) is a post-contact introduced tree documented on Kauaʻi through historical forestry planting records. The reviewed records do not establish present survival. Native to China in temperate woodland, although long cultivation has broadened its range. Government forestry records document historical planting of Styphnolobium japonicum on Kauaʻi. Planting evidence alone does not establish present survival, naturalization, abundance, or ecological impact. Current survival, naturalization, abundance and ecological effects are unconfirmed. Public occurrence is island-level only.