Kauaʻi record · kba_plant_cinnamomum_verum

Ceylon Cinnamon

Cinnamomum verum

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About Ceylon Cinnamon

Ceylon Cinnamon (Cinnamomum verum) 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 wet-tropical evergreen tree native to Sri Lanka and long cultivated across the tropics as the source of true cinnamon bark. Naturalized status on Kauaʻi is established at island level by the checklist evidence. 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: Cinnamomum verum
Common names: Ceylon Cinnamon · True cinnamon · Cinnamon tree
Other names: Cinnamomum verum · Ceylon cinnamon · True cinnamon · Cinnamon tree · Laurus cinnamomum L. · Cinnamomum zeylanicum Blume
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 branched panicles and develop into single-seeded berry-like fruits seated in a persistent cup. Successful recruitment requires flowering, pollination, fruit maturation, dispersal, and seedling establishment. Kauaʻi-specific phenology, dispersers, and recruitment are unmeasured.
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: Ceylon Cinnamon (Cinnamomum verum) 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 wet-tropical evergreen tree native to Sri Lanka and long cultivated across the tropics as the source of true cinnamon bark. Naturalized status on Kauaʻi is established at island level by the checklist evidence. 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

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