Kauaʻi record · kba_plant_chrysophyllum_cainito
Star Apple
Chrysophyllum cainito
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About Star Apple
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 cultivated and naturalized in parts of the tropics, associated with warm wet-tropical conditions. A 1980 forestry ledger documents a 1938 Kauaʻi planting; it does not confirm surviving trees or naturalization.
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 2 plants under Chrysophyllum cainito across 1 entries dated 1938. 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
- Chrysophyllum cainito
- Common names
- Star Apple · Caimito
- Other names
- Chrysophyllum cainito · Star apple · Caimito
- 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
- Small axillary flowers require pollination and develop into several-seeded fleshy fruits. Animals and people can move fruits, but Kauaʻi fruiting, dispersers, germination, and wild 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
- 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 cultivated and naturalized in parts of the tropics, associated with warm wet-tropical conditions. A 1980 forestry ledger documents a 1938 Kauaʻi planting; it does not confirm surviving trees or naturalization.