Kauaʻi record · kba_plant_persea_americana

Avocado

Persea americana

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About Avocado

Avocado (Persea americana) 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. Native from central Mexico to Costa Rica and cultivated for millennia. Fallen fruit and animal movement can establish seedlings beyond cultivation in warm mesic sites. Bishop Museum and Smithsonian document naturalized Kauaʻi occurrence, and a dated 2015 forest-reserve botanical survey independently lists it as naturalized.

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 2,003 plants under Persea americana across 8 entries dated 1929–1958. 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: Persea americana
Common names: Avocado · Avocado pear
Other names: Persea americana · Avocado · Avocado pear · Laurus persea
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: Flowers open in two phases that reduce self-pollination within a flower, though fruit set can occur among overlapping flowers and trees. Large berries fall or are moved by animals and people; local pollinators, dispersers, and wild recruitment rates 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: Avocado (Persea americana) 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. Native from central Mexico to Costa Rica and cultivated for millennia. Fallen fruit and animal movement can establish seedlings beyond cultivation in warm mesic sites. Bishop Museum and Smithsonian document naturalized Kauaʻi occurrence, and a dated 2015 forest-reserve botanical survey independently lists it as naturalized.

Sources and further reading

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