Kauaʻi record · kba_plant_castanospermum_australe

Moreton Bay Chestnut

Castanospermum australe

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About Moreton Bay Chestnut

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 subtropical rainforest and stream margins in eastern Australia and Vanuatu. A 1980 forestry ledger documents a 1935 Kauaʻi planting; it does not confirm living trees, reproduction, or a present population.

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 306 plants under Castanosperum australe across 1 entries dated 1935. 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: Castanospermum australe
Common names: Moreton Bay Chestnut · Black bean
Other names: Castanospermum australe · Moreton Bay chestnut · Black bean
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 survival on Kauaʻi, number of trees, occupied habitat, flowering or fruiting, recruitment, population trend, and ecological effects are all unconfirmed; no naturalization or invasive severity is inferred from the historical planting record.

Habitat and ecology

Habitats: Not yet assessed
Food and resource needs: Not yet assessed
Reproduction: Large papilionoid flowers require animal pollination and produce heavy pods with a few large seeds. Kauaʻi pollinators, fruit set, seed movement, viability, and seedling recruitment are unknown.
Shelter: Not yet assessed
Growth form: Evergreen 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: 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 subtropical rainforest and stream margins in eastern Australia and Vanuatu. A 1980 forestry ledger documents a 1935 Kauaʻi planting; it does not confirm living trees, reproduction, or a present population.

Sources and further reading

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