Kauaʻi record · kba_plant_syzygium_jambos
Rose apple
Syzygium jambos
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About Rose apple
Rose apple (Syzygium jambos) is an introduced tree treated as naturalized on Kauaʻi by Bishop Museum’s 2025 checklist and the 2026 Smithsonian checklist. Current extent is unassessed. A wet-tropical tree occurring in open mixed forest and riverside or valley settings in its Asian range. Kauaʻi naturalization is explicitly documented at island level by the Bishop Museum 2025 checklist and corroborated by the Smithsonian 2026 checklist; current abundance and impacts are not inferred.
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 4,587 plants under Eugenia jambos across 9 entries dated 1927–1944. 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
- Syzygium jambos
- Common names
- Rose apple · Malabar plum
- Other names
- Syzygium jambos · Rose apple · Malabar plum · Jambosa jambos · Eugenia jambos
- 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 abundance, forest extent, and fine distribution on Kauaʻi were not assessed; public scope remains island-only.
Habitat and ecology
- Habitats
- Not yet assessed
- Food and resource needs
- Not yet assessed
- Reproduction
- Terminal flower clusters have four petals and many long conspicuous stamens. Flowers develop into pale-yellow fleshy fruits containing seed; pollination and dispersal details are not localized to Kauaʻi in this profile.
- 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
- Rose apple (Syzygium jambos) is an introduced tree treated as naturalized on Kauaʻi by Bishop Museum’s 2025 checklist and the 2026 Smithsonian checklist. Current extent is unassessed. A wet-tropical tree occurring in open mixed forest and riverside or valley settings in its Asian range. Kauaʻi naturalization is explicitly documented at island level by the Bishop Museum 2025 checklist and corroborated by the Smithsonian 2026 checklist; current abundance and impacts are not inferred.
Sources and further reading
- https://powo.science.kew.org/taxon/urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:601802-1
- https://hbs.bishopmuseum.org/publications/pdf/tr75.pdf
- https://doi.org/10.5479/si.32124043
- https://www.efloras.org/florataxon.aspx?flora_id=2&taxon_id=200014848
- https://www.efloras.org/florataxon.aspx?flora_id=2&taxon_id=242351060
- https://www.efloras.org/florataxon.aspx?flora_id=1&taxon_id=200014848