Kauaʻi record · kba_plant_pinus_radiata
Monterey Pine
Pinus radiata
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About Monterey Pine
Monterey Pine (Pinus radiata) is a post-contact introduced tree documented on Kauaʻi through cultivation records. Native to a very restricted coastal range in California and Mexican Pacific islands but planted globally as a timber tree. Persistent or partly serotinous cones can retain seed until drying or disturbance favors release. On Kauaʻi, a 1998 government inventory documents a planted forest stand; present survival after that survey and naturalization are unconfirmed.
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 1,095 plants under Pinus radiata across 5 entries dated 1928–1958. 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
- Pinus radiata
- Common names
- Monterey Pine · Radiata pine
- Other names
- Pinus radiata · Monterey pine · Radiata pine
- 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
- Wind-borne pollen fertilizes seed cones that mature in about two years. Cones may remain closed and attached for years before releasing winged seeds; Kauaʻi-specific cone opening, dispersal, and seedling 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
- Monterey Pine (Pinus radiata) is a post-contact introduced tree documented on Kauaʻi through cultivation records. Native to a very restricted coastal range in California and Mexican Pacific islands but planted globally as a timber tree. Persistent or partly serotinous cones can retain seed until drying or disturbance favors release. On Kauaʻi, a 1998 government inventory documents a planted forest stand; present survival after that survey and naturalization are unconfirmed.