Kauaʻi record · kba_plant_calotropis_procera
Apple of Sodom
Calotropis procera
Open this record in the interactive Atlas
About Apple of Sodom
Apple of Sodom (Calotropis procera) 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 dryland shrub or small tree native from northern and tropical Africa through southwest Asia to Indo-China, primarily associated with desert and dry-shrubland biomes. Its latex-bearing foliage and wind-dispersed seeds are characteristic of open, seasonally dry settings. Naturalized on Kauaʻi in the Bishop Museum 2025 checklist (Status=nat; K=K), with Smithsonian 2026 Kauaʻi corroboration; public occurrence is island-level only. This evidence does not quantify current abundance or ecological effects.
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
- Calotropis procera
- Common names
- Apple of Sodom · Rooster tree · Rubber bush
- Other names
- Calotropis procera · Apple of Sodom · Rooster tree · Rubber bush · Asclepias procera Aiton
- 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 island-wide abundance, occupied habitat, reproductive distribution, population trend, and ecological effects on Kauaʻi remain unassessed.
Habitat and ecology
- Habitats
- Not yet assessed
- Food and resource needs
- Not yet assessed
- Reproduction
- Bisexual flowers occur in clustered cymes and develop into dry follicles. At maturity the follicles split and expose numerous seeds with silky comas suited to wind dispersal. Kauaʻi-specific flowering, pollination, fruit set, dispersal, and seedling establishment are unmeasured.
- Shelter
- Not yet assessed
- Growth form
- Small tree; Shrub
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
- Apple of Sodom (Calotropis procera) 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 dryland shrub or small tree native from northern and tropical Africa through southwest Asia to Indo-China, primarily associated with desert and dry-shrubland biomes. Its latex-bearing foliage and wind-dispersed seeds are characteristic of open, seasonally dry settings. Naturalized on Kauaʻi in the Bishop Museum 2025 checklist (Status=nat; K=K), with Smithsonian 2026 Kauaʻi corroboration; public occurrence is island-level only. This evidence does not quantify current abundance or ecological effects.
Sources and further reading
- https://powo.science.kew.org/taxon/urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:1004515-2
- https://efloras.org/florataxon.aspx?flora_id=2&taxon_id=210000158
- https://apps.lucidcentral.org/rainforest/pdf/entities/calotropis_procera.pdf
- https://www.plantsofhawaii.org/search/Calotropis%20procera
- 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