Kauaʻi record · kba_plant_syzygium_malaccense
Mountain Apple
Syzygium malaccense
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About Mountain Apple
Mountain Apple (Syzygium malaccense) is a Polynesian-introduced tree documented on Kauaʻi by Bishop Museum’s 2025 checklist and the 2026 Smithsonian checklist. Its checklist classification is Polynesian-introduced; current extent is unassessed. Native from mainland Southeast Asia to Vanuatu and carried widely through the Pacific by people. Large fleshy fruits can be moved by animals and people. Bishop Museum classifies Kauaʻi trees as Polynesian-introduced rather than naturalized, Smithsonian corroborates Kauaʻi, and a 2015 forest-reserve survey independently records the tree.
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
- Syzygium malaccense
- Common names
- Mountain Apple · Malay apple
- Other names
- Syzygium malaccense · Mountain apple · Malay apple · Eugenia malaccensis
- Record type
- Species
Kauaʻi occurrence and status
- Kauaʻi occurrence
- Recorded on Kauaʻi
- Origin
- Polynesian introduction
- 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, Polynesian-introduction, forestry, or planting status.
Habitat and ecology
- Habitats
- Not yet assessed
- Food and resource needs
- Not yet assessed
- Reproduction
- Masses of conspicuous stamens require animal pollination, after which large one- or few-seeded fruits mature on old and new wood. Animals and people move fruits; local pollinators, dispersers, and wild recruitment rates are unknown.
- Shelter
- Not yet assessed
- Growth form
- Shrub or 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
- Mountain Apple (Syzygium malaccense) is a Polynesian-introduced tree documented on Kauaʻi by Bishop Museum’s 2025 checklist and the 2026 Smithsonian checklist. Its checklist classification is Polynesian-introduced; current extent is unassessed. Native from mainland Southeast Asia to Vanuatu and carried widely through the Pacific by people. Large fleshy fruits can be moved by animals and people. Bishop Museum classifies Kauaʻi trees as Polynesian-introduced rather than naturalized, Smithsonian corroborates Kauaʻi, and a 2015 forest-reserve survey independently records the tree.
Sources and further reading
- https://powo.science.kew.org/taxon/urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:601907-1
- https://powo.science.kew.org/taxon/urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:601907-1/general-information
- 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
- https://dlnr.hawaii.gov/forestry/files/2013/02/2015_NK_management_plan_final.pdf