Kauaʻi record · kba_plant_koelreuteria_elegans_subsp_formosana
Taiwanese Rain Tree
Koelreuteria elegans subsp. formosana
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About Taiwanese Rain Tree
Taiwanese Rain Tree (Koelreuteria elegans subsp. formosana) is a post-contact introduced tree documented on Kauaʻi through historical forestry planting records. The reviewed records do not establish present survival. Native to Taiwan in warm-temperate and subtropical forest. 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 85 plants under Koelreuteria formosana across 1 entries dated 1926. 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
- Koelreuteria elegans subsp. formosana
- Common names
- Taiwanese Rain Tree · Flamegold
- Other names
- Koelreuteria elegans subsp. formosana · Taiwanese rain tree · Flamegold · Koelreuteria formosana · Koelreuteria henryi
- 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 flowers are insect-pollinated; inflated three-valved capsules mature several hard seeds that may fall or be transported. Kauaʻi flowering, seed viability, dispersal, and recruitment are unknown.
- Shelter
- Not yet assessed
- Growth form
- Deciduous 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
- Taiwanese Rain Tree (Koelreuteria elegans subsp. formosana) is a post-contact introduced tree documented on Kauaʻi through historical forestry planting records. The reviewed records do not establish present survival. Native to Taiwan in warm-temperate and subtropical forest. 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
- https://powo.science.kew.org/taxon/urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:891070-1
- https://powo.science.kew.org/taxon/urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:891070-1/general-information
- https://research.fs.usda.gov/download/treesearch/47617.pdf
- https://efloras.org/florataxon.aspx?flora_id=2&taxon_id=242327874
- https://www.iplant.cn/foc/pdf/Koelreuteria.pdf