Welcome to the Hawaiʻi Forestry and Agroforestry Trees Website
The photographs here illustrate the most commonly planted trees in
Hawaiʻi. To find photographs of a tree species, click on the links on the
scientific names below. There you may view thumbnail photos as well as
larger images. To find a common name, use the "find in page" command in
your browser.
Many different trees may share a common name, for example,
"ironwood" may refer to several different, unrelated species. The first
common name listed under each species is the name listed in
Little and Skolmen's Common Forest Trees of Hawaiʻi (USDA Forest Service Agriculture Handbook No. 679, 1989), if applicable.
In some cases other Pacific Island names are included. Common
names in Hawaiian and other Pacific Island languages are spelled without
diacritical marks (the okina and kahako, in Hawaiian), as some internet
browsers do not support these.
These illustrations describe trees which have been most commonly planted in Hawaii. They are not recommendations.
Some tree species, for example Falcataria moluccana and Grevillea robusta, have escaped cultivation and have become serious pests in natural forests in Hawaii. Please do not plant trees which may become weeds in our natural ecosystems. In the information under each species, the Hawaiʻi Weed Risk Assessment (hpwra.org) score
has been listed. The Weed Risk Assessment system is a process that has
been developed by Dr. Curt Daehler of UH Botany and Dr. Julie Denslow of
the USDA Forest Service to help growers decide what plant species to
avoid and which are safe to plant. More information on the system is
available on the
UH Botany webpage.