A living guide to Kauaʻi

Kauaʻi species, habitats and conservation records

Explore the island’s native and introduced species, habitats, watersheds and conservation work. Each record connects its description, images and sources with the interactive Atlas.

Page 48 of 58

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  Campylopus moss

  Campylopus spp.

  none_recorded is a moss in the Kauaʻi mosses and liverworts group. Its origin status is needs taxonomic review.

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  Ylang-ylang

  Cananga odorata

  Ylang-ylang (Cananga odorata) is a post-contact introduced tree documented on Kauaʻi through cultivation records. Native from mainland Southeast Asia through Malesia to New Guinea, the Solomon Islands and northeastern Australia. Flora and a

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  Java almond

  Canarium vulgare

  Java almond (Canarium vulgare) is a post-contact introduced tree documented on Kauaʻi through historical forestry planting records. The reviewed records do not establish present survival. Native to islands from the eastern Java Sea through

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  Hawaiian jack bean

  Canavalia pubescens

  ʻāwikiwiki is a vine in the Kauaʻi vascular and land plants group. Its origin status is endemic.

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  Maiapilo

  Capparis sandwichiana

  Maiapilo (Capparis sandwichiana) is recorded as an established shrub on Kauaʻi. A spreading shrub whose low or trailing stems can extend several metres. The fleshy leaves are broadly oval and sometimes bluish green. Large flowers open after

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  Bird Pepper

  Capsicum annuum

  A branching pepper plant that can develop a woody shrub base in tropical climates. Smooth-edged ovate to elliptic leaves accompany small white, five-lobed flowers, often solitary at a leaf axil. Fruit size and shape vary widely; the plate d

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  Papaya

  Carica papaya

  Papaya (Carica papaya) is an introduced tree treated as naturalized on Kauaʻi by Bishop Museum’s 2025 checklist and the 2026 Smithsonian checklist. Current extent is unassessed. A tropical American crop species of cultivated origin whose pr

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  Pecan

  Carya illinoinensis

  Pecan (Carya illinoinensis) is a post-contact introduced tree documented on Kauaʻi through historical forestry planting records. The reviewed records do not establish present survival. Native from the central and east-central United States

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  Yellow Oleander

  Cascabela thevetia

  Yellow Oleander (Cascabela thevetia) is an introduced tree documented as naturalized on Kauaʻi by Bishop Museum’s 2025 checklist. A seasonally dry tropical shrub or tree native from Mexico through tropical South America and widely introduce

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  African Laburnum

  Cassia sieberiana

  African Laburnum (Cassia sieberiana) is a post-contact introduced tree documented on Kauaʻi through historical forestry planting records. The reviewed records do not establish present survival. Native from western tropical Africa to northwe

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  Moreton Bay Chestnut

  Castanospermum australe

  Moreton Bay Chestnut (Castanospermum australe) is a post-contact introduced tree documented on Kauaʻi through historical forestry planting records. The reviewed records do not establish present survival. Native to wet tropical and subtropic

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  River Oak

  Casuarina cunninghamiana

  River Oak (Casuarina cunninghamiana) is a post-contact introduced tree documented on Kauaʻi through historical forestry planting records. The reviewed records do not establish present survival. Native to stream banks and river floodplains o

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  River Oak × Swamp Oak Hybrid

  Casuarina cunninghamiana × Casuarina glauca

  River Oak × Swamp Oak Hybrid (Casuarina cunninghamiana × Casuarina glauca) is an introduced tree documented as naturalized on Kauaʻi by Bishop Museum’s 2025 checklist. An interspecific Casuarina hybrid between two eastern Australian trees.

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  Ironwood

  Casuarina equisetifolia

  Casuarina equisetifolia is native to Australia and neighboring Indo-Pacific coasts and is introduced and naturalized in Hawaiʻi. It tolerates salt, wind, nutrient-poor sand, and coastal exposure, while dense litter, shade, and root competit

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  Swamp She-oak

  Casuarina glauca

  Swamp She-oak (Casuarina glauca) is an introduced tree treated as naturalized on Kauaʻi by Bishop Museum’s 2025 checklist and the 2026 Smithsonian checklist. Current extent is unassessed. An eastern Australian tree associated naturally with

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  Mountain Casuarina

  Casuarina junghuhniana

  Mountain Casuarina (Casuarina junghuhniana) is a post-contact introduced tree documented on Kauaʻi through historical forestry planting records. The reviewed records do not establish present survival. Native from Java to the Lesser Sunda Is

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  Pāmakani Māhū

  Cathetus distichus

  An endemic shrub usually 0.3–1 metre tall, with taller stems often climbing. Its leafy main stems bear variable lance-shaped to elliptic leaves in two ranks on very short stalks. Small male and female flowers occur at leaf axils. The depres

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  Trumpet Tree

  Cecropia obtusifolia

  Trumpet Tree (Cecropia obtusifolia) is an introduced tree treated as naturalized on Kauaʻi by Bishop Museum’s 2025 checklist and the 2026 Smithsonian checklist. Current extent is unassessed. A wet-tropical pioneer tree native from Mexico to

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  Trumpet Tree

  Cecropia peltata

  Trumpet Tree (Cecropia peltata) is a post-contact introduced tree documented on Kauaʻi through historical forestry planting records. The reviewed records do not establish present survival. Native from Mexico to northern South America and th

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  Kapok Tree

  Ceiba pentandra

  Kapok Tree (Ceiba pentandra) is a post-contact introduced tree documented on Kauaʻi through historical forestry planting records. The reviewed records do not establish present survival. Native from Mexico through tropical America and charac

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  Fountain grass

  Cenchrus setaceus

  Species identity and image source are documented. Additional ecological and conservation citations are recommended.

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  Umbrella catchbirdtree

  Ceodes umbellifera

  Umbrella catchbirdtree (Ceodes umbellifera) is indigenous in the Hawaiian Islands and recorded on Kauaʻi. Loosely branched, hairless shrub or tree to 10 m tall with thick branchlets and conspicuous condensed terminal nodes.

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  Ceodes wagneriana

  Ceodes wagneriana

  Ceodes wagneriana is endemic to the Hawaiian Islands and recorded on Kauaʻi. Hairless tree 7–10 m tall with weakly four-angled, apparently hollow branchlets and condensed leaf-bearing nodes.

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  Day cestrum

  Cestrum diurnum

  Day cestrum (Cestrum diurnum) is recorded as an established shrub on Kauaʻi. A shrub reaching about two metres, with alternate, smooth-edged oblong leaves. Slender white tubular flowers occur in stalked clusters at leaf axils and have a pro

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  Night-blooming Jasmine

  Cestrum nocturnum

  Night-blooming Jasmine (Cestrum nocturnum) is an introduced tree treated as naturalized on Kauaʻi by Bishop Museum’s 2025 checklist and the 2026 Smithsonian checklist. Current extent is unassessed. A wet-tropical shrub or small tree native

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  Port Orford Cedar

  Chamaecyparis lawsoniana

  Port Orford Cedar (Chamaecyparis lawsoniana) is a post-contact introduced tree documented on Kauaʻi through historical forestry planting records. The reviewed records do not establish present survival. Native to temperate forests of southwe

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  Chambeyronia divaricata

  Chambeyronia divaricata

  Chambeyronia divaricata (Chambeyronia divaricata) is an introduced tree documented on Kauaʻi through cultivation records.

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  Charpentiera densiflora

  Charpentiera densiflora

  Charpentiera densiflora is endemic to the Hawaiian Islands and recorded on Kauaʻi. Tree to 12 m tall, among the largest in its genus, with brown-woolly new growth.

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  Charpentiera elliptica

  Charpentiera elliptica

  Charpentiera elliptica is endemic to the Hawaiian Islands and recorded on Kauaʻi. Tree to 6 m tall with pale yellow-brown woolly shoot tips and short stem internodes.

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  Pāpala

  Charpentiera obovata

  Pāpala (Charpentiera obovata) is endemic to the Hawaiian Islands and recorded on Kauaʻi. Often shrubby tree to about 4.5–6 m tall, with pale-brown woolly shoot tips.

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  Pāpala

  Charpentiera ovata var. ovata

  Pāpala (Charpentiera ovata var. ovata) is endemic to the Hawaiian Islands and recorded on Kauaʻi. Slender or shrubby tree up to 6 m. Alternate simple ovate leaves 5.9–27 × 3–13 cm with usually rounded bases, entire margins generally lacking

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  Cheirodendron dominii

  Cheirodendron dominii

  Cheirodendron dominii is endemic to the Hawaiian Islands and recorded on Kauaʻi. Shrub or tree 2–7 m tall with leaves divided into three broad, nearly kidney-shaped leathery leaflets.

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  Cheirodendron fauriei

  Cheirodendron fauriei

  Cheirodendron fauriei is endemic to the Hawaiian Islands and recorded on Kauaʻi. Shrub or tree 2–12 m tall with leaves divided into three broadly ovate to nearly round leathery leaflets.

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  Cheirodendron forbesii

  Cheirodendron forbesii

  Cheirodendron forbesii is endemic to the Hawaiian Islands and recorded on Kauaʻi. Small tree 3–4.5 m tall with leaves usually divided into three narrow elliptic to ovate leaflets.

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  Lapalapa

  Cheirodendron platyphyllum

  Lapalapa (Cheirodendron platyphyllum) is endemic to the Hawaiian Islands and recorded on Kauaʻi. Tree 2–10 m tall with leaves usually divided into three broad ovate to kidney-shaped leathery leaflets.

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  ʻōlapa

  Cheirodendron trigynum

  ʻōlapa (Cheirodendron trigynum) is endemic to the Hawaiian Islands and recorded on Kauaʻi. Tree 5–15 m tall with palmately compound leaves of three to five, occasionally seven, leathery leaflets.

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  ʻāweoweo

  Chenopodium oahuense

  ʻāweoweo (Chenopodium oahuense) is endemic to the Hawaiian Islands and recorded on Kauaʻi. Shrub or small tree about 0.9–3 m or taller, with older stems streaked deep red.

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  Star Apple

  Chrysophyllum cainito

  Star Apple (Chrysophyllum cainito) is a post-contact introduced tree documented on Kauaʻi through historical forestry planting records. The reviewed records do not establish present survival. A Central American cultigen now widely cultivate

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  Satinleaf

  Chrysophyllum oliviforme

  Satinleaf (Chrysophyllum oliviforme) is an introduced tree treated as naturalized on Kauaʻi by Bishop Museum’s 2025 checklist and the 2026 Smithsonian checklist. Current extent is unassessed. A tropical American satinleaf of hammocks, woodl

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  Tree Fern

  Cibotium glaucum

  Tree Fern (Cibotium glaucum) is endemic to the Hawaiian Islands and recorded on Kauaʻi. Tree fern with a stout trunk supporting enormous arching fronds that can reach 7 m.

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  Hāpuʻu ʻiʻi

  Cibotium menziesii

  Hāpuʻu ʻiʻi (Cibotium menziesii) is endemic to the Hawaiian Islands and recorded on Kauaʻi.

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  Hāpuʻu

  Cibotium nealiae

  Hāpuʻu (Cibotium nealiae) is endemic to the Hawaiian Islands and recorded on Kauaʻi.

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  Yellow Cinchona

  Cinchona calisaya

  Yellow Cinchona (Cinchona calisaya) is a post-contact introduced tree documented on Kauaʻi through historical forestry planting records. The reviewed records do not establish present survival. Native to wet-tropical montane forest from cent

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  Java Cinnamon

  Cinnamomum burmanni

  Java Cinnamon (Cinnamomum burmanni) is an introduced tree treated as naturalized on Kauaʻi by Bishop Museum’s 2025 checklist and the 2026 Smithsonian checklist. Current extent is unassessed. A wet-tropical tree native from southern China th

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  Ceylon Cinnamon

  Cinnamomum verum

  Ceylon Cinnamon (Cinnamomum verum) is an introduced tree treated as naturalized on Kauaʻi by Bishop Museum’s 2025 checklist and the 2026 Smithsonian checklist. Current extent is unassessed. A wet-tropical evergreen tree native to Sri Lanka

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  Arabian Wax Cissus

  Cissus rotundifolia

  A woody climber with thick, fleshy, broadly rounded to ovate leaves, heart-shaped bases and crenate or toothed margins. Older stems become four-angled or corky-winged. Small green, yellowish or whitish flowers occur in clusters, often oppos

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  Fiddlewood

  Citharexylum caudatum

  Citharexylum caudatum is a tree treated as naturalized in Hawaiʻi by Bishop Museum’s Plants of Hawaiʻi account. Birds disperse its fruits, allowing movement from plantings into disturbed and mesic lowland forest. Bishop Museum’s 2025 checkl

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  Fiddlewood

  Citharexylum spinosum

  Fiddlewood (Citharexylum spinosum) is an introduced tree treated as naturalized on Kauaʻi by Bishop Museum’s 2025 checklist and the 2026 Smithsonian checklist. Current extent is unassessed. A Caribbean-to-northern-South-American shrub or tr

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  Pomelo

  Citrus maxima

  Pomelo (Citrus maxima) is a post-contact introduced tree documented on Kauaʻi through historical forestry planting records. The reviewed records do not establish present survival. Native from Assam through Indochina in the wet-tropical biom

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  Laukea

  Claoxylon sandwicense

  Laukea (Claoxylon sandwicense) is endemic to the Hawaiian Islands and recorded on Kauaʻi. Few-branched, soft-wooded shrub or small tree 2–6 m tall with woolly young shoots.

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  ʻOha wai

  Clermontia fauriei

  ʻOha wai (Clermontia fauriei) is endemic to the Hawaiian Islands and recorded on Kauaʻi. Terrestrial or epiphytic shrub or tree 2–7 m tall.

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  Chinese Glorybower

  Clerodendrum chinense

  An upright shrub or subshrub with hairy, roughly square stems and large, broadly ovate leaves with broad heart-shaped bases and coarse teeth. Dense terminal clusters carry fragrant white or pink flowers with red-to-purple calyces. Both doub

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  Woolly Clethra

  Clethra lanata

  Woolly Clethra (Clethra lanata) is an introduced tree documented as naturalized on Kauaʻi by Bishop Museum’s 2025 checklist. A Mesoamerican tree occurring from southern Mexico toward Panama across cloud forest, pine, oak, pine-oak, and othe

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  Koster's curse

  Clidemia hirta

  Species identity and image source are documented. Additional ecological and conservation citations are recommended.

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  Autograph Tree

  Clusia rosea

  Clusia rosea is native from Florida and the Caribbean into tropical America and is introduced in Hawaiʻi. Bird-dispersed seeds, epiphytic establishment, and tolerance of coastal and disturbed habitats can help it escape cultivation and over

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  Silver palm

  Coccothrinax barbadensis

  Silver palm (Coccothrinax barbadensis) is an introduced tree treated as naturalized on Kauaʻi by Bishop Museum’s 2025 checklist and the 2026 Smithsonian checklist. Current extent is unassessed. Native to Venezuela and Caribbean islands, whe

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  Coconut palm

  Cocos nucifera

  Niu (Cocos nucifera) is a Polynesian-introduced food and fiber palm in Hawaiʻi. Its buoyant fruits also permit natural dispersal across tropical shores. On Kauaʻi, planted and persisting palms form part of cultural landscapes and coastlines

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  Arabica Coffee

  Coffea arabica

  Arabica Coffee (Coffea arabica) is an introduced tree treated as naturalized on Kauaʻi by Bishop Museum’s 2025 checklist and the 2026 Smithsonian checklist. Current extent is unassessed. A northeast African forest shrub or small tree, nativ

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  Liberian Coffee

  Coffea liberica

  Liberian Coffee (Coffea liberica) is a post-contact introduced tree documented on Kauaʻi through historical forestry planting records. The reviewed records do not establish present survival. Current Kew and 2025 primary research place the n

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  Spurflower

  Coleus australis

  A spreading to partly erect, semi-succulent subshrub with hairy branches and opposite fleshy, ovate-to-rounded leaves bearing scalloped or toothed margins and orange glands. Branched flowering shoots carry small pale mauve-to-white flowers