Native plants · Hawaii

Native plants of Kauai County

29 plant species are recorded as native to Hawaii in Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants and USDA PLANTS, and recorded in Kauai County by USDA PLANTS. 26 of them have growing records you can filter by light, moisture, height and estimated cold hardiness.

County summary · USDA PLANTS and Kew WCVP

Kauai County, Hawaii

PLANTS records only 26 garden-ready natives here (under 30). County records are thin in some places; the Hawaii list is a useful second check.

Native species: 29 Typical Hawaii county: 29 (median of 4 counties)
Garden-ready natives: 26 Typical Hawaii county: 26
Share by type (all 29 native species): Percent of the 29 native species in each growth type

Tree 28% (8)
Shrub 24% (7)
Wildflower (forb) 17% (5)
Grass or grass-like 28% (8)
Vine 3% (1)

Trees make up the largest share of the native list (28%), followed by grasses and grass-like plants (28%).

Recorded native ranges can include long-established populations that spread from gardens; check your state’s native plant society list for local guidance. How native status is decided.

ZIP codes mainly in this county fall in USDA hardiness zones 12a to 12b (2023 map).

The native plant list

Garden-ready natives 26

Native species with PLANTS growing records (height, light, moisture, minimum temperature). “—” means PLANTS has no value.

Garden-ready native plants of Kauai County, Hawaii
Plant	Type	Height	Light	Water use	Hardy to
'ala'a Planchonella sandwicensis	Tree	40 ft	Sun–part shade	—	Zone 11a
'ohi'a lehua Metrosideros polymorpha	Tree	65 ft	Sun	Medium	Zone 9b
bayhops Ipomoea pes-caprae	Vine	1 ft	Sun–part shade	Medium	Zone 9a
beach naupaka Scaevola sericea	Shrub	10 ft	Sun–part shade	Low	Zone 10b
cosmopolitan bulrush Bolboschoenus maritimus	Grass or grass-like	3.2 ft	Sun	Medium	Zone 5a
Gaudichaud's senna Senna gaudichaudii	Tree	2 ft	—	—	Zone 11a
Hawai'i desert-thorn Lycium sandwicense	Shrub	1 ft	Sun–part shade	Medium	Zone 11a
Hawai'i hawthorn Osteomeles anthyllidifolia	Shrub	12 ft	Sun–part shade	Medium	Zone 10b
Hawai'ian cotton Gossypium tomentosum	Shrub	6 ft	Sun–part shade	Medium	Zone 12a
hillside false ohelo Wikstroemia uva-ursi	Shrub	3 ft	Sun	High	—
kawelu Eragrostis variabilis	Grass or grass-like	3 ft	Sun	—	Zone 11a
koa Acacia koa	Tree	110 ft	Sun	Medium	Zone 10b
leafy pondweed Potamogeton foliosus	Wildflower (forb)	—	Sun	High	Zone 3b
mamani Sophora chrysophylla	Tree	40 ft	Sun–part shade	Medium	Zone 9b
manyspike flatsedge Cyperus polystachyos	Grass or grass-like	1.6 ft	Sun	Medium	Zone 12a
naio Myoporum sandwicense	Tree	15 ft	Sun	—	Zone 11a
native caper Capparis sandwichiana	Shrub	20 ft	Sun–part shade	—	Zone 11a
Oahu riverhemp Sesbania tomentosa	Shrub	2 ft	Sun–part shade	Medium	Zone 12a
salt heliotrope Heliotropium curassavicum	Wildflower (forb)	1.2 ft	Sun	Medium	Zone 4b
seashore dropseed Sporobolus virginicus	Grass or grass-like	2 ft	Sun–part shade	Low	Zone 9a
softstem bulrush Schoenoplectus tabernaemontani	Grass or grass-like	9 ft	Sun	High	Zone 3b
star sedge Carex echinata	Grass or grass-like	1.5 ft	Sun–part shade	High	Zone 3b
tanglehead Heteropogon contortus	Grass or grass-like	8 in	Sun	Low	Zone 8a
Waimea pipturus Pipturus albidus	Tree	10 ft	Sun–part shade	—	Zone 11a
widgeongrass Ruppia maritima	Wildflower (forb)	2 in	Sun	High	Zone 7a
wili wili Erythrina sandwicensis	Tree	30 ft	Sun–part shade	Medium	Zone 12a

Other native species recorded here 3

PLANTS has no growing records for these, so light, moisture, height and zone filters cannot include them. Many are wild species seldom sold by nurseries.

bald spikerush Eleocharis erythropoda
English sundew Drosera anglica
herb of grace Bacopa monnieri

Compared with Hawaii

The typical county is the median of the 4 Hawaii counties with PLANTS county records; the statewide figure counts every species native anywhere in the state. More species is not better or worse: counties differ in size, habitat and how thoroughly they have been surveyed.

Native species counts, Kauai County and Hawaii
Measure	Kauai County	Typical county	Statewide
Native species	29	29	40
Garden-ready natives	26	26	34
Tree	8	—	11
Shrub	7	—	7
Wildflower (forb)	5	—	7
Grass or grass-like	8	—	8
Vine	1	—	1
Fern	0	—	6

Source & data date

Source: USDA NRCS PLANTS Database: county distribution records, native status and plant characteristics. CC0 (public domain dedication, per the data.gov catalog record).; Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants (WCVP): native or introduced status by state. CC BY 3.0.; USGS US-RIIS (ver. 2.0): species listed as introduced are excluded. CC0.
Citation: USDA, NRCS. 2026. The PLANTS Database (https://plants.usda.gov, 11/04/2026). National Plant Data Team, Greensboro, NC USA.; Govaerts R. (ed.) (2026). WCVP: World Checklist of Vascular Plants. Facilitated by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Data file dated 2026-06-04, http://sftp.kew.org/pub/data-repositories/WCVP/ (retrieved 2026-11-04). Paper: Govaerts R. et al. (2021) The World Checklist of Vascular Plants, a continuously updated resource for exploring global plant diversity. Scientific Data 8, 215.
Data date: Retrieved from PLANTS on November 4, 2026; WCVP data file dated June 4, 2026.
Zones: USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map (2023) ZIP table: PRISM Group, Oregon State University, https://prism.oregonstate.edu, accessed November 3, 2026. Plant zones on this site are our estimate, not the official map.
Scope: Kauai County (county FIPS 15007), Hawaii. 29 native species from PLANTS county distribution records; garden-ready = species with a PLANTS characteristics record.
Method: A species is listed when it is recorded as native to the state in Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants and USDA PLANTS, and recorded in the county by USDA PLANTS. Species PLANTS labels both native and introduced are listed separately. Full method · All sources

Independent reference site. No government affiliation or endorsement.