Kauaʻi record · kba_plant_melochia_umbellata
Melochia
Melochia umbellata
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About Melochia
Melochia (Melochia umbellata) is an introduced tree treated as naturalized on Kauaʻi by Bishop Museum’s 2025 checklist and the 2026 Smithsonian checklist. Current extent is unassessed. An introduced, naturalized pioneer of disturbed tropical vegetation. Its light-demanding growth favors open forest edges, roadsides, clearings, and secondary vegetation. Winged seeds can move on wind after the dry capsule opens. Kauaʻi checklist evidence establishes naturalized island presence; current abundance and forest impact on Kauaʻi remain unquantified.
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 9 plants under Melochia umbellata across 1 entries dated 1927. 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
- Melochia umbellata
- Common names
- Melochia · umbrella tree
- Other names
- Melochia umbellata · Melochia · umbrella tree · Visenia umbellata Houtt. · Melochia indica (C.C.Gmel.) Kurz
- 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 Kauaʻi population size, distribution, trend, and ecosystem impacts have not been established by a recent island-wide survey.
Habitat and ecology
- Habitats
- Not yet assessed
- Food and resource needs
- Not yet assessed
- Reproduction
- Small bisexual flowers provide five petals and five stamens; dry five-celled capsules mature and split to release multiple winged seeds. Successful recruitment depends on viable seed, dispersal into open ground, moisture, and light.
- 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
- Melochia (Melochia umbellata) is an introduced tree treated as naturalized on Kauaʻi by Bishop Museum’s 2025 checklist and the 2026 Smithsonian checklist. Current extent is unassessed. An introduced, naturalized pioneer of disturbed tropical vegetation. Its light-demanding growth favors open forest edges, roadsides, clearings, and secondary vegetation. Winged seeds can move on wind after the dry capsule opens. Kauaʻi checklist evidence establishes naturalized island presence; current abundance and forest impact on Kauaʻi remain unquantified.
Sources and further reading
- https://hbs.bishopmuseum.org/publications/pdf/tr75.pdf
- https://www.ctahr.hawaii.edu/gsp/doc/Forestry/Little_Skolmen_CFT/CFT_Melochia_umbellata.pdf
- https://www.nparks.gov.sg/florafaunaweb/flora/7/4/7457
- https://powo.science.kew.org/taxon/urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:824564-1
- https://www.worldfloraonline.org/taxon/wfo-0001260558
- https://doi.org/10.5479/si.32124043