A living guide to Kauaʻi

Kauaʻi species, habitats and conservation records

Explore the island’s native and introduced species, habitats, watersheds and conservation work. Each record connects its description, images and sources with the interactive Atlas.

Page 54 of 58

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  Kauaʻi bottlebrush

  Metrosideros waialealae

  Kauaʻi bottlebrush (Metrosideros waialealae) is a tree; shrub recorded on Kauaʻi. It is endemic to the Hawaiian Islands.

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  Uhiuhi

  Mezoneuron kavaiense

  Uhiuhi (Mezoneuron kavaiense) is a tree; shrub recorded on Kauaʻi. It is endemic to the Hawaiian Islands.

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  Miconia

  Miconia calvescens

  Miconia calvescens is a tropical American wet-forest tree and one of Hawaiʻi’s highest-priority invasive plants. DLNR states that populations occur on Kauaʻi, and the Kauaʻi forest plan records survey and control near a state forest reserve

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  Lace Fern

  Microlepia strigosa

  palapalai is a fern in the Kauaʻi vascular and land plants group. Its origin status is indigenous.

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  Sensitive Plant

  Mimosa pudica

  A creeping to sprawling prickly subshrub with bipinnate leaves that close when touched. Each leaf has one or two pairs of pinnae carrying many small narrow leaflets. Rounded flower heads look pink to lavender because of their long staminal

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  Spanish Cherry

  Mimusops elengi

  Spanish Cherry (Mimusops elengi) is a post-contact introduced tree documented on Kauaʻi through historical forestry planting records. The reviewed records do not establish present survival. Native to South and Southeast Asia to northern Aus

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  Tree Daisy

  Montanoa hibiscifolia

  Tree Daisy (Montanoa hibiscifolia) 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 Mexic

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  Firetree

  Myrica faya

  Firetree (Myrica faya) is a Macaronesian tree introduced in Hawaiʻi; Morella faya remains a widely used older name. Root symbioses allow it to fix nitrogen and alter nutrient-poor soils in ways that favor other weeds. HISC identifies it as

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  Noni

  Morinda citrifolia

  Noni (Morinda citrifolia) is a Polynesian-introduced tree documented on Kauaʻi by Bishop Museum’s 2025 checklist and the 2026 Smithsonian checklist. Its checklist classification is Polynesian-introduced; current extent is unassessed. A stra

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  White Mulberry

  Morus alba

  White Mulberry (Morus alba) 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 to temperate and

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  Black Mulberry

  Morus nigra

  Black Mulberry (Morus nigra) is a post-contact introduced tree documented on Kauaʻi through historical forestry planting records. The reviewed records do not establish present survival. Native to southwestern Asia and adjoining temperate re

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  Munroidendron racemosum

  Munroidendron racemosum

  Munroidendron racemosum is endemic to the Hawaiian Islands and recorded on Kauaʻi. Tree to about 7 m tall with a straight trunk, spreading branches and smooth gray bark.

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  Jamaican Cherry

  Muntingia calabura

  Jamaican Cherry (Muntingia calabura) 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 to tropi

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  Orange Jasmine

  Murraya paniculata

  Orange Jasmine (Murraya paniculata) 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 trop

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  Banana

  Musa spp.

  Maiʻa covers a banana and plantain crop complex, including Polynesian introductions maintained in Hawaiian cultural landscapes by vegetative propagation. These large herbs form tree-like pseudostems rather than woody trunks. Mats expand thr

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  Naio

  Myoporum sandwicense

  Naio (Myoporum sandwicense) is endemic to the Hawaiian Islands and recorded on Kauaʻi. Low spreading shrub or erect shrub to small tree, occasionally reaching 20 m.

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  Cinamomo

  Myrospermum frutescens

  Cinamomo (Myrospermum frutescens) is a post-contact introduced tree documented on Kauaʻi through historical forestry planting records. The reviewed records do not establish present survival. Native from central Mexico through Central Americ

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  Kōlea

  Myrsine alyxifolia

  Kōlea (Myrsine alyxifolia) is a tree; shrub recorded on Kauaʻi. It is endemic to the Hawaiian Islands.

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  Myrsine cirrhosa

  Myrsine cirrhosa

  A moderately branched shrub with slender smooth branches and narrow leaves clustered near shoot tips. Entire leaf margins strongly wave toward the tip, which ends in a long curved hook. The lower surface has long dark secretory streaks. Sma

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  Kōlea

  Myrsine denticulata

  A small, much-branched shrub with closely spaced small narrow leaves, conspicuously brown-dotted. Fine teeth occur only in the upper third of slightly rolled margins. Pale yellow-green flowers grow singly or in pairs among the leaves. Round

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  Streambank colicwood

  Myrsine fernseei

  Streambank colicwood (Myrsine fernseei) is a tree; shrub recorded on Kauaʻi. It is endemic to the Hawaiian Islands.

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  Koolau Range colicwood

  Myrsine fosbergii

  Koolau Range colicwood (Myrsine fosbergii) is a tree; shrub recorded on Kauaʻi. It is endemic to the Hawaiian Islands.

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  ʻŌliko

  Myrsine helleri

  A branched shrub with slender dark-red-brown stems and narrow leaves clustered near branch tips. Smooth, slightly thickened margins surround blades dotted black above, with long pointed tips often slightly hooked. Small axillary flower clus

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  Kauai colicwood

  Myrsine kauaiensis

  Kauai colicwood (Myrsine kauaiensis) is a tree; shrub recorded on Kauaʻi. It is endemic to the Hawaiian Islands.

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  Kokee colicwood

  Myrsine knudsenii

  Kokee colicwood (Myrsine knudsenii) is a tree; shrub recorded on Kauaʻi. It is endemic to the Hawaiian Islands.

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  Lanai colicwood

  Myrsine lanaiensis

  Lanai colicwood (Myrsine lanaiensis) is a tree recorded on Kauaʻi. It is endemic to the Hawaiian Islands.

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  Hawaiian colicwood

  Myrsine lessertiana

  Hawaiian colicwood (Myrsine lessertiana) is a tree; shrub recorded on Kauaʻi. It is endemic to the Hawaiian Islands.

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  Kōlea

  Myrsine linearifolia

  A shrub with slender ascending branches and very narrow, slightly fleshy linear leaves about two-and-a-half to four millimeters wide. Leaf tips are long-tapered, curved and often hooked; margins are smooth and slightly rolled. Tiny greenish

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  Kōlea

  Myrsine mezii

  Kōlea (Myrsine mezii) is a tree recorded on Kauaʻi. It is endemic to the Hawaiian Islands.

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  Kōlea

  Myrsine petiolata

  Kōlea (Myrsine petiolata) is a tree; shrub recorded on Kauaʻi. It is endemic to the Hawaiian Islands.

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  Kōlea

  Myrsine punctata

  A much-branched shrub with dull green, slightly fleshy small leaves crowded on upper shoots. Fine remote teeth occur in the upper half, and conspicuous long lower-surface secretory lines are absent. Small axillary flower clusters develop in

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  Kōlea

  Myrsine wawraea

  Kōlea (Myrsine wawraea) is a tree; shrub recorded on Kauaʻi. It is endemic to the Hawaiian Islands.

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  Nagi Podocarp

  Nageia nagi

  Nagi Podocarp (Nageia nagi) is a post-contact introduced tree documented on Kauaʻi through historical forestry planting records. The reviewed records do not establish present survival. Native to southeastern China, Taiwan, and southern Japa

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  Kiawe

  Neltuma pallida

  Kiawe (Neltuma pallida) 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 to arid western South

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  Neraudia kauaiensis

  Neraudia kauaiensis

  A shrub with spreading hairs on the branches and thin pointed elliptic-to-ovate leaves. Smooth leaf margins contrast with densely hairy stalks and grayish-to-greenish hairy undersides. Small male and female flowers differ in stalks and caly

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  Maʻaloa

  Neraudia melastomifolia

  Maʻaloa (Neraudia melastomifolia) is a tree; shrub recorded on Kauaʻi. It is endemic to the Hawaiian Islands.

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  Olopua

  Nestegis sandwicensis

  Olopua (Nestegis sandwicensis) is endemic to the Hawaiian Islands and recorded on Kauaʻi. Tree to 8 m, exceptionally taller, with thick corrugated bark.

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  Tobacco

  Nicotiana tabacum

  A stout erect short-lived subshrub with sticky glandular hairs and large alternate leaves that become smaller up the stem. Leaves are smooth-edged or wavy and run down onto the stem. Dense terminal flower systems carry long tubular flowers

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  Madagascar olive

  Noronhia emarginata

  Madagascar olive (Noronhia emarginata) is an introduced tree treated as naturalized on Kauaʻi by Bishop Museum’s 2025 checklist and the 2026 Smithsonian checklist. Current extent is unassessed. Native to Madagascar and naturalized in parts

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  Broadleaf ʻAiea

  Nothocestrum latifolium

  Broadleaf ʻAiea (Nothocestrum latifolium) is a tree recorded on Kauaʻi. It is endemic to the Hawaiian Islands.

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  Longleaf ʻAiea

  Nothocestrum longifolium

  Longleaf ʻAiea (Nothocestrum longifolium) is a tree; shrub recorded on Kauaʻi. It is endemic to the Hawaiian Islands.

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  Kauaʻi ʻAiea

  Nothocestrum peltatum

  Kauaʻi ʻAiea (Nothocestrum peltatum) is a tree recorded on Kauaʻi. It is endemic to the Hawaiian Islands.

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  Hawaiʻi Rockwort

  Nototrichium sandwicense

  Hawaiʻi Rockwort (Nototrichium sandwicense) is endemic to the Hawaiian Islands and recorded on Kauaʻi. Shrub or small tree 1–4 m tall, rarely to 7 m, with one or several trunks covered in closely appressed silky gray hairs.

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  Mickey Mouse Plant

  Ochna thomasiana

  A shrub with gray bark, lenticel-dotted young shoots and leathery pointed elliptic leaves with gland-tipped marginal bristles. Bright-yellow flowers have clawed petals and orange anthers. Enlarged sepals turn red in fruit and surround sever

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  Balsa

  Ochroma pyramidale

  Balsa (Ochroma pyramidale) is a post-contact introduced tree documented on Kauaʻi through historical forestry planting records. The reviewed records do not establish present survival. Native to tropical America in lowland wet forest gaps, r

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  Kauaʻi Yellowwood

  Ochrosia kauaiensis

  Kauaʻi Yellowwood (Ochrosia kauaiensis) is a tree recorded on Kauaʻi. It is endemic to the Hawaiian Islands.

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  Wild Basil

  Ocimum gratissimum

  A woody-based perennial subshrub with stalked ovate pointed leaves bearing serrate margins and many gland dots. Small greenish-white-to-greenish-yellow flowers have two-lipped, gland-dotted calyces that enlarge in fruit. The fruits are smal

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  Firespike

  Odontonema cuspidatum

  An upright clumping shrub with large glossy foliage and elongated terminal clusters of red tubular flowers. The corolla has short upper and lower lips, with small lobes on the lower lip. Established wild occurrence warrants observations of

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  African Olive

  Olea europaea subsp. africana

  African Olive (Olea europaea subsp. africana) is an introduced tree documented as naturalized on Kauaʻi by Bishop Museum’s 2025 checklist. Native across much of sub-Saharan Africa and nearby islands, occupying dry woodland, bushland, and fo

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  Cochineal Cactus

  Opuntia cochenillifera

  A shrubby cactus with a distinct lower trunk and flattened, narrow elliptic-to-obovate stem pads. Areoles are usually spineless, occasionally with a few weak gray spines. Upright red flowers have overlapping erect perianth parts and long pr

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  Bog sedge

  Oreobolus furcatus

  none_recorded is a sedge like bog graminoid in the Kauaʻi vascular and land plants group. Its origin status is indigenous.

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  ʻŪlei

  Osteomeles anthyllidifolia

  A much-branched native shrub, usually prostrate, with gray young shoots and drooping branches. Pinnate leaves carry numerous small leathery, smooth-edged leaflets, glossy above and hairy beneath. Clusters of white clawed flowers develop int

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  Mexican Weeping Bamboo

  Otatea acuminata

  Mexican Weeping Bamboo (Otatea acuminata) is a post-contact introduced woody bamboo documented on Kauaʻi through cultivation records. Kew accepts Otatea acuminata as a Mexican bamboo and records it primarily in the wet tropical biome. The s

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  Padina

  Padina australis

  Species identity and image source are documented. Additional ecological and conservation citations are recommended.

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  Screwpine

  Pandanus tectorius

  Screwpine (Pandanus tectorius) is indigenous in the Hawaiian Islands and recorded on Kauaʻi. Small tree to 15 m tall with a stout branching trunk supported by numerous thick prop roots.

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  Plume albizia

  Paraserianthes lophantha

  Plume albizia (Paraserianthes lophantha) is a post-contact introduced tree documented on Kauaʻi through historical forestry planting records. The reviewed records do not establish present survival. Native to southwestern Australia and parts

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  Aʻiaʻi

  Paratrophis pendulina

  Aʻiaʻi (Paratrophis pendulina) is a tree; shrub recorded on Kauaʻi. It is indigenous to the Hawaiian Islands.

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  Mexican Palo Verde

  Parkinsonia aculeata

  Mexican Palo Verde (Parkinsonia aculeata) 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 fro

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  Hilo grass

  Paspalum conjugatum

  Species identity and image source are documented. Additional ecological and conservation citations are recommended.

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  Yellow Poinciana

  Peltophorum pterocarpum

  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 sea