Numerous plants have been introduced to

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; haw, Hawaii or ) is a state in the Western United States, located in the Pacific Ocean about from the U.S. mainland. It is the only U.S. state outside North America, the only state that is an archipelago, and the only stat ...

, and many of them have become

invasive species An invasive species otherwise known as an alien is an introduced organism that becomes overpopulated and harms its new environment. Although most introduced species are neutral or beneficial with respect to other species, invasive species ad ...

Invasive plants

The following are some of invasive plant species established in Hawaii: *

Ageratina riparia ''Ageratina riparia'', commonly known as mistflower, is a species of flowering plant in the family Asteraceae, native to Mexico. The species is widely adventive and has spread to Cuba, Jamaica, and other parts of the Caribbean. It has also bee ...

* Andropogon glomeratus *

Andropogon virginicus ''Andropogon virginicus'' is a species of grass known by several common names, including broomsedge bluestem, yellowsedge bluestem and (in Australia, because it was introduced to that country after being used as packaging for bottles of American ...

Argyreia nervosa ''Argyreia nervosa'' is a perennial climbing vine native to the Indian subcontinent and introduced to numerous areas worldwide, including Hawaii, Africa, and the Caribbean. Though it can be invasive, it is often prized for its aesthetic and me ...

* Carduus pycnocephalus *

Casuarina ''Casuarina'' is a genus of 17 tree species in the family Casuarinaceae, native to Australia, the Indian subcontinent, southeast Asia, islands of the western Pacific Ocean, and eastern Africa. It was once treated as the sole genus in the fami ...

Cenchrus ciliaris ''Cenchrus ciliaris'' (buffel-grass or African foxtail grass; syn. ''Pennisetum ciliare'' (L.) Link) is a species of grass native to most of Africa, southern Asia (east to India), southern Iran, and the extreme south of Europe (Sicily). Other na ...

* Christella dentata *

Chrysophyllum oliviforme ''Chrysophyllum oliviforme'', commonly known as the satinleaf, is a medium-sized tree native to Florida, the Bahamas, the Greater Antilles, and Belize. It is also known as damson plum, wild star-apple and saffron-tree. It gets the name "satinleaf ...

Cinchona pubescens ''Cinchona pubescens'', also known as red cinchona and quina (Kina) ( ''Cascarilla, cinchona''; ''quina-do-amazonas, quineira''), is native to Central and South America. It is known as a medicinal plant for its bark's high quinine content- and h ...

* Clusia rosea * Cortaderia selloana *

Cotoneaster pannosus ''Cotoneaster pannosus'' is a species of ''Cotoneaster'' known by the common name silverleaf cotoneaster. This woody shrub is native to south central China but it has been introduced to other areas of the world, including southern Africa and A ...

Cyathea cooperi ''Sphaeropteris cooperi'', synonym ''Cyathea cooperi'', also known as lacy tree fern, scaly tree fern, or Cooper's tree fern, is a tree fern native to Australia, in New South Wales and Queensland. Description ''Sphaeropteris cooperi'' is a ...

* Cynodon dactylon * Erica lusitanica * Eucalyptus globulus * Ficus microcarpa * Hedychium gardnerianum *

Hyparrhenia hirta ''Hyparrhenia hirta'' is a species of grass known by the common names common thatching grass and Coolatai grass. It is native to much of Africa and Eurasia, and it is known on other continents as an introduced species. In eastern Australia it is ...

Hypericum canariense ''Hypericum canariense'' is a species of flowering plant in the family Hypericaceae known by the common name Canary Islands St. John's wort. It is the sole member of ''Hypericum'' sect. ''Webbia''. Etymology Among its numerous aliases in Spanis ...

Ilex aquifolium ''Ilex aquifolium'', the holly, common holly, English holly, European holly, or occasionally Christmas holly, is a species of flowering plant in the family (botany), family Aquifoliaceae, native plant, native to western and southern Europe, nort ...

Ipomoea cairica ''Ipomoea cairica'' is a vining, herbaceous, perennial plant with palmate leaves and large, showy white to lavender flowers. A species of morning glory, it has many common names, including mile-a-minute vine, Messina creeper, Cairo morning glo ...

Ipomoea indica ''Ipomoea indica'' is a species of flowering plant in the family Convolvulaceae, known by several common names, including blue morning glory, oceanblue morning glory, ''koali awa'', and blue dawn flower. It bears heart-shaped or 3-lobed leaves an ...

Lantana montevidensis ''Lantana montevidensis'' is a species of lantana known by many common names, such as: trailing lantana, weeping lantana, creeping lantana, small lantana, purple lantana or trailing shrubverbena. This lantana is native to South America. Descrip ...

* Lonicera japonica *

Lygodium microphyllum ''Lygodium microphyllum'' (commonly known as, variously, climbing maidenhair fern, Old World climbing fern, small-leaf climbing fern, or snake fern) is a climbing fern originating in tropical Africa, Southeast Asia, Melanesia and Australia. It is ...

Miconia calvescens ''Miconia calvescens'', the velvet tree, miconia, or bush currant, is a species of flowering plant in the family Melastomataceae. It is native to Mexico and Central and South America and it has become one of the world's most invasive species. M ...

* Muhlenbergia mexicana *

Passiflora tarminiana ''Passiflora tarminiana'' (or banana passionfruit) is a species of passionfruit. The yellow fruits are edible and their resemblance to small, straight bananas has given it the name banana passionfruit in some countries. It is native to the upl ...

Psidium cattleianum ''Psidium cattleyanum (World Plants : Psidium cattleianum)'', commonly known as Cattley guava, strawberry guava or cherry guava, is a small tree (2–6 m tall) in the Myrtaceae (myrtle) family. The species is named in honour of English hor ...

Rhizophora mangle ''Rhizophora mangle'', the red mangrove, is distributed in Estuary, estuarine ecosystems throughout the tropics. Its Vivipary, viviparous "seeds", in actuality called propagules, become fully mature plants before dropping off the parent tree. Th ...

* Rubus armeniacus * Rubus ellipticus *

Schinus terebinthifolius ''Schinus terebinthifolia'' is a species of flowering plant in the cashew family, Anacardiaceae, that is native to subtropical and tropical South America. Common names include Brazilian peppertree, aroeira, rose pepper, broadleaved pepper tree, ...

Sporobolus indicus ''Sporobolus indicus'' is a species of grass known by the common name smut grass. Distribution This bunchgrass is native to temperate and tropical areas of the Americas. It can be found in more regions, as well as on many Pacific Islands, as an ...

* Sporobolus virginicus *

Typha latifolia ''Typha latifolia'' (broadleaf cattail, bulrush, common bulrush, common cattail, cat-o'-nine-tails, great reedmace, cooper's reed, cumbungi) is a perennial herbaceous plant in the genus '' Typha''. It is found as a native plant species in North a ...

* Verbena bonariensis

Naturalized trees

The following are some of the

naturalized Naturalization (or naturalisation) is the legal act or process by which a non-citizen of a country may acquire citizenship or nationality of that country. It may be done automatically by a statute, i.e., without any effort on the part of the in ...

tree In botany, a tree is a perennial plant with an elongated stem, or trunk, usually supporting branches and leaves. In some usages, the definition of a tree may be narrower, including only woody plants with secondary growth, plants that are ...

s and

shrub A shrub (often also called a bush) is a small-to-medium-sized perennial woody plant. Unlike herbaceous plants, shrubs have persistent woody stems above the ground. Shrubs can be either deciduous or evergreen. They are distinguished from trees ...

s of Hawaii: * Acacia confusa * Acacia mearnsii * Albizia saman * Aleurites moluccanus *

Breadfruit Breadfruit (''Artocarpus altilis'') is a species of flowering tree in the mulberry and jackfruit family (Moraceae) believed to be a domesticated descendant of ''Artocarpus camansi'' originating in New Guinea, the Maluku Islands, and the Philippi ...

* Calophyllum inophyllum *

Casuarina equisetifolia ''Casuarina equisetifolia'', common names ''Coastal She-oak'' or ''Horsetail She-oak'' (sometimes referred to as the Australian pine tree or whistling pine tree outside Australia), is a she-oak species of the genus ''Casuarina''. The native ...

Casuarina glauca ''Casuarina glauca'', commonly known as the swamp she-oak, swamp oak, grey oak, or river oak, is a species of ''Casuarina'' native to the east coast of Australia. It is found from central Queensland south to southern New South Wales. It has becom ...

Ceratonia siliqua The carob ( ; ''Ceratonia siliqua'') is a flowering evergreen tree or shrub in the Caesalpinioideae sub-family of the legume family, Fabaceae. It is widely cultivated for its edible fruit pods, and as an ornamental tree in gardens and lands ...

* Eucalyptus globulus *Albizia - '' Falcataria moluccana'' * Ficus microcarpa *

Grevillea robusta ''Grevillea robusta'', commonly known as the southern silky oak, silk oak or silky oak, silver oak or Australian silver oak, is a flowering plant in the family Proteaceae. It is a tree, the largest species in its genus but is not closely rela ...

Heliotropium foertherianum ''Heliotropium arboreum'' is a species of flowering plant in the borage family, Boraginaceae. It is native to tropical Asia including southern China, Madagascar, northern Australia, and most of the atolls and high islands of Micronesia and Polyn ...

Leucaena leucocephala ''Leucaena leucocephala'' is a small fast-growing Mimosoideae, mimosoid tree native to southern Mexico and northern Central America (Belize and Guatemala) and is now naturalized throughout the tropics including parts of Asia. Common names inc ...

* Melastoma sanguineum * Melastoma septemnervium *

Metrosideros kermadecensis ''Metrosideros kermadecensis'', with common names ''Kermadec pōhutukawa'' and New Zealand Christmas bush is an evergreen tree of the myrtle family which is endemic to the volcanic Kermadec Islands about 900 km north-east of New Zealand. ...

Morinda citrifolia ''Morinda citrifolia'' is a fruit-bearing tree in the coffee family, Rubiaceae. Its native range extends across Southeast Asia and Australasia, and was spread across the Pacific by Polynesian sailors. The species is now cultivated throughout th ...

* Myrica faya * Paper mulberry *

Prosopis pallida ''Prosopis pallida'' is a species of mesquite tree. It has the common names kiawe () (in Hawaii), huarango (in its native South America) and American carob, as well as "bayahonda" (a generic term for ''Prosopis''), "algarrobo pálido" (in some pa ...

Psidium guajava ''Psidium guajava'', the common guava, yellow guava, lemon guava, or apple guava is an evergreen shrub or small tree native to the Caribbean, Central America and South America. It is easily pollinated by insects; when cultivated, it is pollina ...

* Schefflera actinophylla *

Spathodea ''Spathodea'' is a genus in the plant family Bignoniaceae. The single species it contains, ''Spathodea campanulata'', is commonly known as the African tulip tree. The tree grows between tall and is native to tropical dry forests of Africa. It ha ...

Syzygium jambos ''Syzygium jambos'' is a species of rose apple originating in Southeast Asia and occurring widely elsewhere, having been introduced as an ornamental and fruit tree.Janick, Jules. Paull, Robert E. The Encyclopedia of Fruit & Nuts. Publisher: ...

* Terminalia catappa *

Trema orientalis ''Trema orientale'' (sometimes spelled ''Trema orientalis'') is a species of flowering tree in the hemp family, Cannabaceae. The basionym of ''T. orientalis'', ''Celtis orientalis'' was originally described and published in ''Species P ...

{{div col end

External links

USDA PLANTS Database
USDA database showing county distribution of plant species in the US
InvasiveSpecies.gov
Information from the US National Invasive Species Council Invasive plants

invasive plant species An invasive species otherwise known as an alien is an introduced organism that becomes overpopulated and harms its new environment. Although most introduced species are neutral or beneficial with respect to other species, invasive species ad ...

Invasive plants

Naturalized trees

See also

External links