Kauaʻi record · kba_plant_harpullia_pendula

Tulipwood

Harpullia pendula

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About Tulipwood

Tulipwood (Harpullia pendula) is a post-contact introduced tree documented on Kauaʻi through historical forestry planting records. The reviewed records do not establish present survival. Native to northeastern and eastern Australia in subtropical and tropical rainforest. A 1980 forestry ledger documents Kauaʻi planting within the 1910–1960 forestry program; no species-specific year is available from the reviewed index; it does not establish current survival, reproduction, 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 286 plants under Harpullia pendula across 2 entries dated 1928–1931. 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: Harpullia pendula
Common names: Tulipwood · Queensland tulipwood
Other names: Harpullia pendula · Tulipwood · Queensland tulipwood
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: Normally separate male and female plants require pollen transfer for seed production. Greenish-yellow flowers develop into inflated two-lobed capsules with papery valves; opening exposes dark seeds without an aril. Kauaʻi flowering, pollination, seed production, dispersal, viability and recruitment remain unconfirmed.
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: Tulipwood (Harpullia pendula) is a post-contact introduced tree documented on Kauaʻi through historical forestry planting records. The reviewed records do not establish present survival. Native to northeastern and eastern Australia in subtropical and tropical rainforest. A 1980 forestry ledger documents Kauaʻi planting within the 1910–1960 forestry program; no species-specific year is available from the reviewed index; it does not establish current survival, reproduction, or naturalization.

Sources and further reading

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