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Corynocarpaceae family

Karaka Nut Corynocarpus laevigatus

Karaka Nut is an introduced perennial tree, found in Hawaii.

More about this plant

Corynocarpus laevigatus, commonly known as karaka or the New Zealand laurel, is an evergreen tree in the family Corynocarpaceae. It is endemic to New Zealand and is common throughout the North Island and less common in the South Island. C. laevigatus individuals are also found on the Chatham Islands, Kermadec Islands, and the Three Kings Islands. C. laevigatus is mainly a coastal tree, although in the North Island, it is also found inland. Wikipedia →

⚠ Invasive here — plant a native instead USDA + GBIF

Karaka Nut is flagged invasive in the U.S. These natives fill a similar niche — same growth habit, bloom season, height, and region — so you keep the look and feed local wildlife instead of spreading a problem.

Tropical Almond
Native
Tropical Almond
Terminalia catappa
●●●●●
Uhiuhi
Native
Uhiuhi
Caesalpinia kavaiensis
●●●●○
Wili Wili
Native
Wili Wili
Erythrina sandwicensis
●●●●○
Nioi
Native
Nioi
Eugenia koolauensis
●●●●○
Matched on growth habit · bloom months · mature height · shared U.S. range (USDA + GBIF) — a starting point, not a prescription.

Growing & care

USDA PLANTS · TRY
Size & form
Sources · Size & form
USDA PLANTS — Lifespan
TRY Plant Trait Database (CC BY 4.0) — Foliage
Lifespan
Perennial
Foliage
Evergreen broadleaf
In the garden
Tree layer (canopy / understory) — Sits in the tree of a layered food forest or polyculture.Open guide →
derived roles
Species characteristics from USDA PLANTS (public domain) + TRY (CC BY) — general guidance, not a guarantee for your exact site. Deer "browsing" is documented palatability, not a deer-proof claim.

Wildlife & pollinators

How pollinator value is scored →
✦ Bees 1 bee visitor

1 native & managed bee species is documented visiting Karaka Nut :

Nomia microlutea · alkali bee
Visitor records (observations, not exhaustive) from Noori et al. 2026 (CC BY 4.0) · GloBI →
Wildlife & visitors 4 birds

Open records of who else uses Karaka Nut — a generalist food-web signal, kept separate from the keystone Ecological Value.

Interaction records (observations, not exhaustive) from GloBI → (CC0). Counts are distinct species; names are the most-recorded. Common names from Wikidata (CC0).
Species thumbnails re-hosted from iNaturalist — Creative Commons, credited per image (hover for credit). Click any species to see it on iNaturalist. Not exhaustive; many taxa have no openly-licensed photo yet.
Sources for this entry (14) Open & cited
[01] Scientific name & family — USDA PLANTS (DwCA, Zenodo 17903503)
[02] Growth habit & duration — USDA PLANTS (DwCA, Zenodo 17903503)
[03] Native status & distribution — USDA PLANTS (DwCA, Zenodo 17903503)
[04] Common name — USDA PLANTS (via GBIF)
[05] Invasive / introduced status — US-RIIS v2.0 (USGS)
[07] Description — Wikipedia (CC BY-SA)
[08] Ecological value — GloBI
[10] Functional traits — TRY Plant Trait Database (CC BY 4.0)
[11] Wildlife & visitors — GloBI — Global Biotic Interactions (CC0)
[13] Flower-visitor value (derived) — Noori et al. 2026 (CC BY 4.0) · GloBI
[14] County range — GBIF Open Data — open-licensed occurrences (CC0/CC-BY) → county
Spot an error or have a better photo? Every field links to its source, and the whole dataset is open.
Cite this page Open data, please attribute

PlantKey’s data is open under CC BY-SA 4.0 — free to reuse and adapt, with attribution and the same licence. Photos keep their own per-image licence + credit (see Sources above).

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