Plants in Hawaiʻi
The Hawaiian Islands are home to an amazing array of unique plants. Today it is estimated that there are approximately 1,400 vascular plant taxa (including species, subspecies, and varieties) native to the State of Hawai‘i, and nearly 90 percent of these are found nowhere else in the world. While the following plants are more common than others, the arrival of humans still brought new threats including the clearing of land for agriculture, the introduction of non-native plants and animals, wildfire, insect damage, plant diseases, and climate change.
Types of Plants in Hawaiʻi
Hawaiʻi is home to thousands of plants. Some are native plants: those that have evolved here in Hawaiʻi over the millions of years or arrived without the help of humans. Native plants arrived via the three Ws: by floating here on water, by blowing here on the wind, or on the wings of birds. In ʻōlelo Hawaiʻi, instead of the three Ws we say that native plants arrived by the three Ms: moana, makani, and manu. Due to the many environmental changes Hawaiʻi has experienced since the arrival of humans and western contact in 1778, many of our native plants are extremely rare.
Plants brought to Hawaiʻi by humans are called introduced or non-native plants. The Polynesian voyagers who arrived in Hawaiʻi brought several species of plants with them in their canoes. We call these canoe plants. There were about 23 plants brought by the first Hawaiians, including species like ʻulu, kalo, kukui, ʻawa, kamani, niu, and more. After western contact in 1778, thousands of additional non-native plant species were introduced to Hawaiʻi. Most non-native species that have become established in Hawaiʻi arenʻt causing any particular problems, and many of them are species we value for the benefits they provide. Some non-native plants cause ecological, economic, or other types of harm here in Hawaiʻi, and we call that subset of plants invasive species.
Click below on any category to find species profiles for different types of plants. Because they are managed differently, we separate rare native plants from more “common” native plants that you might see in Hawaiʻi’s forests. Our rare plant species profiles are stored on the webpages of our Rare Plant Program.
Common Native Plants
Wiliwili
Canoe Plants
The first Hawaiians brought around 23 plant species in their canoes as they voyaged across Polynesia. These plants helped them survive as they voyaged across the ocean and established themselves here in Hawaiʻi. Species profiles for several species of canoe plants are below. Click on any thumbnail to learn more.
