Kauaʻi record · kba_plant_volkameria_glabra

Smooth Tinderwood

Volkameria glabra

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About Smooth Tinderwood

Smooth Tinderwood (Volkameria glabra) is an introduced tree documented as naturalized on Kauaʻi by Bishop Museum’s 2025 checklist. Native from eastern and southern Africa to western Indian Ocean islands, chiefly in seasonally dry woodland, thicket, and forest margins. Fleshy fruit units can be moved by birds. Bishop Museum documents naturalized Kauaʻi occurrence, while Smithsonian screening did not return an exact-name match; current extent is unmeasured.

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: Volkameria glabra
Common names: Smooth Tinderwood · Tinderwood
Other names: Volkameria glabra · Smooth tinderwood · Tinderwood · Clerodendrum glabrum · Volkameria eriophylla
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, Polynesian-introduction, forestry, or planting status.

Habitat and ecology

Habitats: Not yet assessed
Food and resource needs: Not yet assessed
Reproduction: Small tubular flowers develop into fleshy cream-white fruit. Local pollination, seed movement and recruitment remain unmeasured; no Kauaʻi phenology is inferred.
Shelter: Not yet assessed
Growth form: Shrub or small 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: Smooth Tinderwood (Volkameria glabra) is an introduced tree documented as naturalized on Kauaʻi by Bishop Museum’s 2025 checklist. Native from eastern and southern Africa to western Indian Ocean islands, chiefly in seasonally dry woodland, thicket, and forest margins. Fleshy fruit units can be moved by birds. Bishop Museum documents naturalized Kauaʻi occurrence, while Smithsonian screening did not return an exact-name match; current extent is unmeasured.

Sources and further reading

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