Native Plants

Native Plant List for Hawaii

Last updated: November 12, 2026

This is a "starter" list of native plants for Hawaii. It is intended for residential or commercial landscapers who want to create attractive and varied native landscapes.

Native Trees

Hawaii Trees (Native)

Common Name	Scientific Name	Sun	Moisture	Height	Comments
Koa	Acacia koa	F	A-D	50–100 ft	Endemic; Hawaii's premier hardwood; fast-growing, nitrogen-fixing
Koaiʻa	Acacia koaia	F	D	15–30 ft	Dryland koa; dense wood; tough small tree for dry gardens
Kauila	Alphitonia ponderosa	F-P	A-D	50-80 ft	Hawaiian endemic dry-forest tree, slow-growing, IUCN Vulnerable
Hame	Antidesma platyphyllum	P	A-W	15–30 ft	Red-purple fruit used for dye; mesic-wet forest tree
Hame	Antidesma pulvinatum	F-P	A-D	15-30 ft	Hawaiian endemic dry-forest tree; dioecious; bronze new growth
ʻAhakea Lau Nui	Bobea elatior	P-F	A-W	up to 50 ft	Native mesic/wet forest tree; wood traditionally used for canoe parts
Pāpala kēpau	Ceodes brunoniana	F-P	D-A	15–30 ft	Sticky seeds once used to catch birds; big glossy leaves
ʻŌlapa	Cheirodendron trigynum	P	A-W	20–50 ft	Leaves flutter in the wind, honored in hula; wet-forest tree
Hāpuʻu (Tree fern)	Cibotium glaucum	P-S	A-W	10–20 ft	Hawaiian tree fern; soft golden pulu on fiddleheads; shade garden
Kauila	Colubrina oppositifolia	F	D	15–30 ft	Endangered dry-forest tree; famously hard, heavy wood
Kou	Cordia subcordata	F	D-A	25–40 ft	Orange flowers year-round; prized carving wood; coastal
Lama	Diospyros hillebrandii	F-P	A-D	13-33 ft	Endemic to Kaua'i & O'ahu only; slow-growing, pink new-leaf flush
Lama	Diospyros sandwicensis	F-P	D-A	20–40 ft	Native persimmon; sacred to Laka; slow, elegant dry-forest tree
Halapepe	Dracaena auwahiensis	F	D-A	15–30 ft	Maui–Molokaʻi endemic; IUCN Vulnerable; yellow-green flower clusters
Wiliwili	Erythrina sandwicensis	F	D	15–30 ft	Dry-forest tree; variable pale to orange flowers; seasonally deciduous
ʻAkoko	Euphorbia olowaluana	F	D	to ~25-30 ft (tree form)	Endemic to West Maui and Hawaii Island dry forest; sap is an irritant
Mēhamehame	Flueggea neowawraea	F-P	A	to ~100 ft (historic)	Federally endangered; nursery-propagated conservation stock only
Kokiʻo keʻokeʻo	Hibiscus arnottianus	F-P	A	15–30 ft	Native white hibiscus; variable light fragrance; Oʻahu endemic in current taxonomy
Clay's Hibiscus	Hibiscus clayi	F-P	D-A	13-26 ft (tree) / 1.5-3 ft (shrub)	Critically endangered Kauaʻi endemic; nursery-propagated only
Kokiʻo ʻula	Hibiscus kokio	F-P	D-A	10–20 ft	Native red hibiscus; year-round bloom; small tree or large shrub
Kauai White Hibiscus	Hibiscus waimeae	F-P	A-D	20-33 ft	Kauai endemic; fragrant white flowers fade pink; red stamens
Hawaiian Holly (Kāwaʻu)	Ilex anomala	P-F	A-W	15-50 ft	Only native Hawaiian holly; smooth leaves, purple-black fruit
Manono	Kadua affinis	P	A-W	10–25 ft	Small tree of wet forests; dark blue-black fruit for birds
Cooke's Kokiʻo	Kokia cookei	F	A-D	~10 ft	Extinct in the wild; survives only as grafted conservation plants
Hawaiian Cotton Tree (Kokiʻo)	Kokia drynarioides	F	A-D	10-20 ft	Critically endangered; endemic to Hawaii Island, North Kona only
Alani	Melicope clusiifolia	P-F	A	6.5-33 ft	Endemic Hawaiian citrus relative; whorled fragrant leaves
ʻŌhiʻa lehua	Metrosideros polymorpha	F	D-W	20–80 ft	Iconic red lehua blossoms feed native honeycreepers; highly variable
Uhiuhi	Mezoneuron kavaiense	F	D	15–35 ft	Rare dryland legume; pink to red flowers; historically valued hard wood
Kōlea lau nui	Myrsine lessertiana	F-P	A	20–50 ft	Pink-red new leaves; dark berries feed native birds
Olopua	Nestegis sandwicensis	F-P	D-A	20–60 ft	Native olive; dense hard wood; drought-tolerant once established
Hōlei	Ochrosia haleakalae	F	A-D	7-26 ft	IUCN Endangered; fewer than 400 wild individuals, mainly East Maui
Hala	Pandanus tectorius	F	D-A	20–30 ft	Prop roots; leaves woven into mats; salt- and wind-tolerant
Hōʻawa	Pittosporum hosmeri	P	A	15–30 ft	Large woody capsules; seeds eaten by ʻalalā (Hawaiian crow)
ʻOhe Makai	Polyscias sandwicensis	F	A-D	15-49 ft	Endemic to Hawaii; drought-deciduous dry forest tree
ʻĀlaʻa	Pouteria sandwicensis	P-F	A-D	up to 50 ft	Native dry/mesic forest tree; prized historically for hard, dense wood
Loulu (Kilauea Pritchardia)	Pritchardia beccariana	F-P	W	up to 65 ft	Endemic to windward Hawaii Island wet forest; critically imperiled
Loulu (Fan palm)	Pritchardia hillebrandii	F	D-A	20–25 ft	Endemic fan palm; drought-tolerant; fronds once used for thatch
Loulu (Hawane)	Pritchardia maideniana	F	A-D	33-82 ft	Endemic to South Kona, Hawaii Island; federally Endangered
Loulu Hiwa	Pritchardia martii	F-P	A-W	10–30+ ft	Oahu endemic; slow-growing; threatened by coconut rhinoceros beetle
Loulu	Pritchardia remota	F	A-D	15–30 ft	Endangered; native only to Nihoa; fast-growing, heat/salt tolerant
Kōpiko	Psychotria hawaiiensis	P	A-W	15–30 ft	Native coffee relative; understory tree of mesic-wet forest
Kōpiko	Psychotria mariniana	P-S	A	10-25 ft	Endemic understory tree; gland-lined midrib, orange fruit
Alaheʻe	Psydrax odorata	F-P	D-A	15–30 ft	Glossy leaves, fragrant white flowers; excellent small landscape tree
Hao	Rauvolfia sandwicensis	F-P	A-D	10–30 ft	Dry to mesic forest and lava fields; increasingly uncommon in the wild
Coast Sandalwood	Santalum ellipticum	F	D	2-15 ft	Hemiparasite; needs a host plant nearby (e.g. ʻilima, pōhinahina)
ʻIliahi (Sandalwood)	Santalum freycinetianum	F-P	D-A	15–40 ft	Fragrant heartwood; root-parasitic, plant near a host like koa
Haleakala Sandalwood	Santalum haleakalae	F	A-D	6–20 ft	Endangered; hemiparasite needs a host plant; Maui, Lanai, Molokai only
Mountain Sandalwood (ʻIliahi)	Santalum paniculatum	F-P	A-D	10-25 ft	Endemic to Hawaii Island; hemiparasitic, needs a host plant
Māmane	Sophora chrysophylla	F	D-A	15–50 ft	Yellow pea flowers; essential food for the endangered palila
Aiaka (Aʻiaʻi)	Streblus pendulinus	F-P	A	10-40 ft	Widespread on most main Hawaiian Islands; mesic forest; Least Concern
ʻOhe Mauka	Tetraplasandra oahuensis	P-F	A-W	15-30 ft	Endemic; large compound leaves, Vulnerable (NatureServe)
Maua	Xylosma hawaiiense	F-P	A-D	10–30 ft	Dry forest restoration favorite; bronze-red new growth
Kāwaʻu	Zanthoxylum dipetalum	P-F	A-D	30-50 ft	Uncommon native forest tree; var. tomentosum is federally endangered

Hawaii Grasses & Sedges

Common Name	Scientific Name	Sun	Moisture	Height	Comments
Broom Sedge	Andropogon virginicus	F-P	D-W	4 ft	Green leaves/stems turn purple & bright orange in fall
Tussock Sedge	Carex stricta	F-P	A-W	24–36 in	Evergreen; blue flowers dissappear quickly; likes full sun
Three-way Sedge	Dulichium arundinaceum	F-P	W	12–36 in	Will thrive in up to 2" standing water; resembles bambo
Squarestem Spikerush	Eleocharis quadrangulata	F-P	W	12–42 in	4-sided stems; wetland plant
Virginia Wild Rye	Elymus virginicus	P-S	D-A	36 in	Distinguished by relatively stiff, erect spikes
Purple Love Grass	Eragrostis spectabilis	F	A	18–24 in	Fluffy clouds of bronze-red inflorescences summer/fall
Pili Grass	Heteropogon contortus	F	D	1-3 ft	Native bunchgrass of HI & SW deserts; twisted awns; not native in FL
Canada Rush	Juncus canadensis	F-P	A-W	36 in	Rapid growth; green foliage & flower
Smooth Rush	Juncus effusus	F-P	A-W	36 in	Bright green cylindrical stems without nodes, no leaves
Switch Panic Grass	Panicum virgatum	F-P	D-W	4–6 ft	Bluish cast in summer; reddish fall color
Cottongrass Bulrush	Scirpus cyperinus	F	W-A	3–5 ft	Clumping grass-like perennial; wooly seed heads in fall
Yellow Indian Grass	Sorghastrum nutans	F-P	A-D	3–6 ft	Foliage varies from drooping & green to upright and blue

Hawaii Shrubs

Common Name	Scientific Name	Sun	Moisture	Height	Comments
Ewa Hinahina	Achyranthes splendens	F	D	2–6 ft	Small, silvery grey-green shrub.
Maile	Alyxia oliviformis	F-P	D-A	3–6 ft	Small flowers represent the 4 mythic Maile sisters of hula.
'Anapanapa	Colubrina asiatica	F-P	D-A	3–10 ft	Tough. Can be vine-like. Wind- and salt-tolerant.
'A'ali'i	Dodonaea viscosa	F-P	D-A	3–10 ft	Wind-tolerant. Round. Bright red seeds.
Ma'o	Gossypium tomentosum	F	D-A	1½–5 ft	Bright yellow flowers year-round.
Ma'o Hau Hele	Hibiscus brackenridgei	F	D	3–15 ft	Hawaiian state flower. Large yellow flowers.
Pūkiawe	Leptecophylla tameiameiae	F-P	D	1-15 ft	Native Hawaiian shrub; lava to alpine bog; white-pink-red berries
Naio	Myoporum sandwicense	F-P	D	3–30 ft	Smells of sandalwood. Conspicuous flowers.
'Ulei	Osteomeles anthyllidifolia	F-P	D-A	3–15 ft	White, fragrant blossoms. Round fruit.
Mountain Naupaka	Scaevola gaudichaudiana	P-S	W-A	5-10 ft	Fragrant white half-flowers; wet-forest shrub, Oahu & Kauai endemic
Beach Naupaka	Scaevola sericea	F-P	D-A	3–10 ft	Dense, spreading. White/cream colored fragrant flowers.
'Ilima	Sida fallax	F-P	D-A	5–10 ft	Popular lei flowers.
Pohinahina	Vitex rotundifolia	F	D		Drought-tolerant. Hardy. Velvety, silvery leaves.
ʻĀkia	Wikstroemia uva-ursi	F	D	1-6 ft	Coastal/lava shrub; salt & drought tolerant; toxic, berries not edible

Hawaii Flowering Perennials

Common Name	Scientific Name	Sun	Moisture	Height	Comments
Puakala	Argemone glauca	F	D	1-4 ft	Spiny blue-gray HI endemic poppy; toxic sap/seeds, white blooms
'Uki 'Uki	Dianella sandwicensis	F-P	A-D	12–36 in	Purple dye berries; good drainage. Tolerates dry spells once established.
Beach Strawberry	Fragaria chiloensis	F-P	A	4-8 in	Mat-forming coastal groundcover; white flowers, small edible fruit
Nehe	Lipochaeta integrifolia	F	D	4–12 in	Yellow-flowered coastal groundcover; needs freely draining soil.

Hawaii Perennial Ferns

Common Name	Scientific Name	Sun	Moisture	Height	Comments
Uluhe	Dicranopteris linearis	F-P	W-A	2–3 ft groundcover, climbing to 20+ ft	Keystone native fern; aggressive spreader, erosion control, no shade
Pala Palai	Microlepia strigosa	F-P	A	Fronds over 36 in	Lei fern; keep soil evenly moist, never waterlogged. Avoid hot exposure.
ʻAmaʻu	Sadleria cyatheoides	F-S	A-W	3-13 ft	Endemic Hawaiian fern; red new fronds; pioneer species on lava flows
'Ama'u	Sadleria pallida	P-S	A-W	Fronds 12–42 in; whole plant to 13 ft	Cool, humid, moist shade; frond length is not mature height.

Sun Exposure	Soil Moisture	Drought Tolerance
F = Full Sun	W = Wet	E = Excellent
P = Part Sun	A = Average	G = Good
S = Shade	D = Dry	M = Moderate
		P = Poor

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