Kauaʻi record · kba_plant_carya_illinoinensis

Pecan

Carya illinoinensis

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About Pecan

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 into Mexico, pecan is characteristic of bottomlands, riverfront ridges, and well-drained alluvial flats and is shade-intolerant. A historical forestry source records planting on Kauaʻi during 1910–1960, compiled in 1980. That planting record does not demonstrate that any tree survives today and does not establish present occurrence, reproduction, naturalization, invasion, or ecological effects on the island.

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 10 plants under Carya illinoensis across 1 entries dated 1940. 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: Carya illinoinensis
Common names: Pecan · Pecan hickory
Other names: Carya illinoinensis · Pecan · Pecan hickory · Juglans illinoinensis Wangenh. · Carya oliviformis (F.Michx.) Nutt. · Carya pecan (Marshall) Nutt.
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: Whether any historically planted pecan survives on Kauaʻi is unknown. Current abundance, flowering, nut set, recruitment, persistence, spread, naturalization, invasion, and ecological effects are unassessed.

Habitat and ecology

Habitats: Not yet assessed
Food and resource needs: Not yet assessed
Reproduction: Pecan is monoecious but male pollen release and female receptivity often differ in timing, so cross-pollination between compatible trees improves nut set. It reproduces from nuts after dormancy; horticultural cultivars are commonly propagated by budding or grafting. No reviewed evidence establishes flowering, pollination, nut production, seedling recruitment, or vegetative persistence on Kauaʻi.
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: 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 into Mexico, pecan is characteristic of bottomlands, riverfront ridges, and well-drained alluvial flats and is shade-intolerant. A historical forestry source records planting on Kauaʻi during 1910–1960, compiled in 1980. That planting record does not demonstrate that any tree survives today and does not establish present occurrence, reproduction, naturalization, invasion, or ecological effects on the island.

Sources and further reading

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