Kauaʻi record · kba_plant_peltophorum_pterocarpum
Yellow Poinciana
Peltophorum pterocarpum
Open this record in the interactive Atlas
About Yellow Poinciana
Yellow Poinciana (Peltophorum pterocarpum) is an introduced tree documented as naturalized on Kauaʻi by Bishop Museum’s 2025 checklist. Native from Sri Lanka and southern China through Southeast Asia to northern Australia and adapted to seasonally dry tropical woodland and disturbed sites. Its dry pods and seeds can persist on the tree. Bishop Museum documents naturalized Kauaʻi occurrence; Smithsonian screening did not return an exact-name match, so no additional checklist corroboration is claimed.
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
- Peltophorum pterocarpum
- Common names
- Yellow Poinciana · Copperpod · Yellow flame tree
- Other names
- Peltophorum pterocarpum · Yellow poinciana · Copperpod · Yellow flame tree · Peltophorum ferrugineum · Inga pterocarpa · Caesalpinia inermis
- 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
- Showy flowers require pollination and develop into flat indehiscent pods. Mature pods or released seeds can be moved by wind, water, animals, or human activity; Kauaʻi-specific pollinators, dispersal, and recruitment are unknown.
- 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
- Yellow Poinciana (Peltophorum pterocarpum) is an introduced tree documented as naturalized on Kauaʻi by Bishop Museum’s 2025 checklist. Native from Sri Lanka and southern China through Southeast Asia to northern Australia and adapted to seasonally dry tropical woodland and disturbed sites. Its dry pods and seeds can persist on the tree. Bishop Museum documents naturalized Kauaʻi occurrence; Smithsonian screening did not return an exact-name match, so no additional checklist corroboration is claimed.