Kauaʻi record · kba_plant_manihot_esculenta
Cassava
Manihot esculenta
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About Cassava
Cassava (Manihot esculenta) is an introduced tree documented on Kauaʻi by Bishop Museum’s 2025 checklist and the 2026 Smithsonian checklist. Its checklist classification is naturalized; current extent is unassessed. A domesticated Neotropical crop now widespread in tropical regions. It is adapted to warm, seasonally dry settings and disturbed ground, with underground storage roots buffering short dry periods. Bishop Museum documents it as naturalized on Kauaʻi; present distribution outside cultivation and population trend are not quantified.
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
- Manihot esculenta
- Common names
- Cassava · Manioc · Tapioca plant
- Other names
- Manihot esculenta · Cassava · Manioc · Tapioca plant · Jatropha manihot · Janipha manihot
- 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
- Present island-wide abundance, occupied habitat, recruitment, population trend, and ecological effects have not been quantified; no invasive severity is inferred from checklist or forestry status.
Habitat and ecology
- Habitats
- Not yet assessed
- Food and resource needs
- Not yet assessed
- Reproduction
- Plants can reproduce by seed after male and female flowers mature and capsules dehisce, and are also widely propagated from stem cuttings. The checklist establishes naturalization but does not identify which reproductive pathway sustains Kauaʻi populations.
- Shelter
- Not yet assessed
- Growth form
- Tuberous shrub or small 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
- Cassava (Manihot esculenta) is an introduced tree documented on Kauaʻi by Bishop Museum’s 2025 checklist and the 2026 Smithsonian checklist. Its checklist classification is naturalized; current extent is unassessed. A domesticated Neotropical crop now widespread in tropical regions. It is adapted to warm, seasonally dry settings and disturbed ground, with underground storage roots buffering short dry periods. Bishop Museum documents it as naturalized on Kauaʻi; present distribution outside cultivation and population trend are not quantified.
Sources and further reading
- https://powo.science.kew.org/taxon/urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:351790-1
- https://powo.science.kew.org/taxon/urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:351790-1/general-information
- 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