Kauaʻi record · kba_plant_eriobotrya_japonica
Loquat
Eriobotrya japonica
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About Loquat
Loquat (Eriobotrya japonica) is an introduced tree documented as naturalized on Kauaʻi by Bishop Museum’s 2025 checklist. A temperate to subtropical East Asian fruit tree, native in parts of central China and cultivated broadly; birds and mammals can move its fleshy fruits into disturbed forest and mesic sites.
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 246 plants under Eriobotrya japonica 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
- Eriobotrya japonica
- Common names
- Loquat · Japanese plum
- Other names
- Eriobotrya japonica · loquat · Japanese plum · Mespilus japonica · Crataegus bibas
- Record type
- Species
Kauaʻi occurrence and status
- Kauaʻi occurrence
- Recorded on Kauaʻi
- Origin
- Introduced
- Conservation status
- Not yet assessed
- Evidence date
- 2026-10-05
- Evidence limits
- Current extent is unassessed; public locality is island level only.
Habitat and ecology
- Habitats
- Not yet assessed
- Food and resource needs
- Not yet assessed
- Reproduction
- Not yet assessed
- Shelter
- Not yet assessed
- Growth form
- confirmed tree scope
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
- Loquat (Eriobotrya japonica) is an introduced tree documented as naturalized on Kauaʻi by Bishop Museum’s 2025 checklist. A temperate to subtropical East Asian fruit tree, native in parts of central China and cultivated broadly; birds and mammals can move its fleshy fruits into disturbed forest and mesic sites.
Sources and further reading
- https://hbs.bishopmuseum.org/publications/pdf/tr75.pdf
- https://editedimages.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/Imadaetal.2025Hawaiianvascularplants.xlsx
- https://doi.org/10.5479/si.32124043
- https://powo.science.kew.org/taxon/urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:724793-1
- https://efloras.org/florataxon.aspx?flora_id=2&taxon_id=200010834