Kauaʻi record · kba_plant_corynocarpus_laevigatus

Karaka

Corynocarpus laevigatus

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About Karaka

Karaka (Corynocarpus laevigatus) 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 subtropical forest tree native to New Zealand, including the Kermadec and Chatham Islands, where it occurs in coastal and lowland forest. It has been introduced to Hawaiʻi. 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. The 1918–1959 Kauaʻi reforestation working register records 4,784 plants under Corynocarpus laevigata across 7 entries dated 1925–1937. 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: Corynocarpus laevigatus
Common names: Karaka · New Zealand laurel
Other names: Corynocarpus laevigatus · Karaka · New Zealand laurel
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: Small bisexual flowers in branched panicles develop into large fleshy one-seeded drupes. Recruitment requires pollination, fruit maturation, dispersal, and seedling establishment. Kauaʻi-specific flowering, fruiting, 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: Karaka (Corynocarpus laevigatus) 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 subtropical forest tree native to New Zealand, including the Kermadec and Chatham Islands, where it occurs in coastal and lowland forest. It has been introduced to Hawaiʻi. 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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