Kauaʻi record · kba_plant_toona_ciliata

Australian Red Cedar

Toona ciliata

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About Australian Red Cedar

Australian Red Cedar (Toona ciliata) is an introduced tree documented on Kauaʻi by Bishop Museum’s 2025 checklist and the 2026 Smithsonian checklist. Its checklist classification is naturalized; current extent is unassessed. Native from the Indian subcontinent through Southeast Asia to Australia and associated with moist tropical and subtropical forest. Winged seeds disperse from canopy capsules. Bishop Museum and Smithsonian document naturalized Kauaʻi occurrence; the 1910–1960 forestry ledger separately documents historical planting without measuring current extent.

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 13,514 plants under Toona ciliata var australis across 15 entries dated 1921–1958. 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: Toona ciliata
Common names: Australian Red Cedar · Toon tree
Other names: Toona ciliata · Australian red cedar · Toon tree · Toona ciliata var. australis · Cedrela toona
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: 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: Small flowers in large panicles require pollination; dry capsules split into valves and release many winged seeds on air currents. Local pollinators, seed-flight distances, and recruitment rates are unknown.
Shelter: Not yet assessed
Growth form: 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: Australian Red Cedar (Toona ciliata) is an introduced tree documented on Kauaʻi by Bishop Museum’s 2025 checklist and the 2026 Smithsonian checklist. Its checklist classification is naturalized; current extent is unassessed. Native from the Indian subcontinent through Southeast Asia to Australia and associated with moist tropical and subtropical forest. Winged seeds disperse from canopy capsules. Bishop Museum and Smithsonian document naturalized Kauaʻi occurrence; the 1910–1960 forestry ledger separately documents historical planting without measuring current extent.

Sources and further reading

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