Kauaʻi record · kba_plant_camphora_officinarum

Camphor Tree

Camphora officinarum

Open this record in the interactive Atlas

About Camphor Tree

Camphor Tree (Camphora officinarum) is an introduced tree treated as naturalized on Kauaʻi by Bishop Museum’s 2025 checklist and the 2026 Smithsonian checklist. Current extent is unassessed. Kew currently accepts Camphora officinarum, with Cinnamomum camphora as a synonym. It is a subtropical tree native from Jejudo and Japan to Taiwan and introduced in Hawaiʻi. Bishop Museum records the source-name concept as naturalized on Kauaʻi, corroborated by Smithsonian 2026; current distribution and impact remain unassessed.

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 124 plants under Cinnamonum camphora across 1 entries dated 1945. 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: Camphora officinarum
Common names: Camphor Tree · Camphor
Other names: Camphora officinarum · Camphor tree · Camphor · Cinnamomum camphora · Laurus camphora · Persea camphora
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 habitats, population trajectory, and ecological effects on Kauaʻi are not established by the reviewed checklist evidence.

Habitat and ecology

Habitats: Not yet assessed
Food and resource needs: Not yet assessed
Reproduction: Small flowers in panicles develop into single-seeded fleshy black drupes. Reproduction requires flowering, pollen transfer, viable fruit and seed, dispersal, and moist establishment sites. Kauaʻi-specific flowering periods, dispersal agents, and recruitment rates are unquantified.
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: Camphor Tree (Camphora officinarum) is an introduced tree treated as naturalized on Kauaʻi by Bishop Museum’s 2025 checklist and the 2026 Smithsonian checklist. Current extent is unassessed. Kew currently accepts Camphora officinarum, with Cinnamomum camphora as a synonym. It is a subtropical tree native from Jejudo and Japan to Taiwan and introduced in Hawaiʻi. Bishop Museum records the source-name concept as naturalized on Kauaʻi, corroborated by Smithsonian 2026; current distribution and impact remain unassessed.

Sources and further reading

Suggest changes to this record