Pacific Island Ecosystems at Risk (PIER)
Report on invasive plant species in Tonga
Appendix 2.
Table 1.
Species that are invasive elsewhere in similar ecosystems but are not known to be present
in Tonga
Table 2. Introduced species that are invasive elsewhere
and are also invasive or potentially invasive in Tonga
Table 3. Species that are reported as invasive or weedy
elsewhere and are common or weedy in Tonga
Table 4. Native and naturalized species that exhibit
aggressive behavior
| Scientific Name | Common Names | Family | Habit |
| Acacia confusa | English: Formosa koa, Formosa acacia; Other: sosigi, shoshigi, sosugi, boiffuring (Guam and CNMI–Chamorro); serepa, soschghi (CNMI–Carolinian); pilampwoia (Pohnpei); ianángi, yanangi (Palau) | Fabaceae | tree |
| Acacia farnesiana | English: Ellington curse, klu, sweet acacia; French: cassie; Other: aroma, popinac, kandaroma (Guam, CNMI); kolu (Hawai'i); vaivai vaka-vatona, vaivai vakavotona, ban baburi, oki (Fiji); te kaibakoa (Kiribati); debena (Nauru) | Fabaceae | shrub |
| Acacia longifolia | English: Sydney golden wattle, golden wattle, long-leaved wattle, long-leaved acacia, sallow wattle, coast wattle, golden rods | Fabaceae | tree |
| Acacia mangium | English: mangium; Other: tuhkehn pwelmwahu (Pohnpei) | Fabaceae | tree |
| Acacia mearnsii | English: black wattle; French: acacia noir | Fabaceae | tree |
| Acacia melanoxylon | English: Australian blackwood, blackwood acacia | Fabaceae | tree |
| Acacia nilotica | English: prickly acacia, black thorn, Egyptian thorn, Nile acacia, algaroba, babul, gum arabic tree; French: acacia ŕ gomme; Spanish: algarrobo; Other: tiare (New Caledonia) | Fabaceae | tree |
| Acacia spp. | English: acacia | Fabaceae | shrubs/trees |
| Agave sisalana | English: sisal, sisal hemp; Other: ndali, natali (Fiji); Other: ndali, natali (Fiji), malina (Hawai'i) | Agavaceae | herb |
| Ageratina riparia | English: spreading mistflower, creeping croftonweed, river eupatorium; Other: hamakua pamakani (Hawai‘i) | Asteraceae | shrub |
| Ailanthus altissima | English: tree of heaven, varnishtree | Simaroubaceae | tree |
| Albizia chinensis | English: Chinese albizia, silktree | Fabaceae | tree |
| Alstonia macrophylla | English: devil-tree | Apocynaceae | tree |
| Alternanthera philoxeroides | English: alligator weed | Amaranthaceae | herb |
| Andropogon gayanus | English: gamba grass, tambuki grass | Poaceae | grass |
| Andropogon glomeratus | English: bush beardgrass, bushy bluestem | Poaceae | grass |
| Andropogon virginicus | English: broomsedge, yellow bluestem, whisky grass | Poaceae | grass |
| Annona glabra | English: pond apple, alligator apple, bullock's heart, cherimoyer; French: annone des marais, corossolier des marais; Other: uto ni mbulumakau, uto ni bulumakau, kaitambo, kaitambu (Fiji) | Annonaceae | tree |
| Anredera cordifolia | English: Madeira vine, mignonette vine, lamb's tails; Other: ‘uala hupe (Hawai‘i); filikafa (Niue) | Basellaceae | vine |
| Araujia sericifera | English: moth plant, moth catcher, white bladder flower | Asclepiadaceae | shrub |
| Ardisia crenata | English: hen's eyes, Hilo holly, coral berry, Australian holly, scratchthroat; French: arbre ŕ noël | Myrsinaceae | shrub |
| Ardisia elliptica | English: shoebutton ardisia; Other: ati popa'a, atiu (French Polynesia) | Myrsinaceae | shrub |
| Arthrostemma ciliatum | English: everblooming eavender | Melastomataceae | herb |
| Austroeupatorium inulaefolium | Asteraceae | herb | |
| Axonopus compressus | English: blanket grass, carpetgrass; Other: kambutu ni vavalangi (Fiji), vaolima (Samoa) | Poaceae | grass |
| Azadirachta indica | English: neem, nim, margosa | Meliaceae | tree |
| Azolla pinnata | English: mosquito fern, ferny azolla, water velvet | Azollaceae | fern |
| Barleria lupulina | English: hophead, Philippine violet | Acanthaceae | shrub |
| Barleria prionitis | English: barleria, porcupine flower | Acanthaceae | shrub |
| Bauhinia purpurea | English: purple orchid tree; purple butterfly tree, pink butterfly tree (Fiji); French: fleurs pourpres | Fabaceae | tree |
| Bauhinia variegata | English: orchid tree; mountain ebony, butterfly tree (Fiji); French: bois de boeuf, sabot boeuf, arbre de Saint-Thomas | Fabaceae | tree |
| Blainvillea gayana | Asteraceae | herb | |
| Bocconia frutescens | English: bocconia, plume-poppy, tree celandine, parrotweed | Papaveraceae | shrub |
| Boerhavia coccinea | English: boerhavia, hog weed, hog feed, red spiderling, wineflower, tar vine; Other: mata pavo, patagon | Nyctaginaceae | herb |
| Brillantaisia lamium | Acanthaceae | shrub | |
| Bryophyllum delagoense | English: chandelier plant | Crassulaceae | herb |
| Buddleja asiatica | English: dog tail; Other: huelo ‘ilio (Hawai'i) | Scrophulariaceae | shrub |
| Buddleja davidii | English: orange eye, butterfly bush, summer lilac | Scrophulariaceae | shrub |
| Buddleja madagascariensis | English: butterfly bush, smoke bush | Scrophulariaceae | shrub |
| Caesalpinia decapetala | English: cats claw, Mysore thorn, Mauritius thorn, wait-a-bit; French: bois sappan; Other: puakelekino (Hawai'i) | Fabaceae | shrub |
| Calamus spp. | English: rattan; Other: rotan, bejuko-n-halumtano, rotan bejuro-n-halumtan (Guam); bangerenguis ra ngebard (Palau) | Arecaceae | shrub (palm) |
| Calliandra haematocephala | English: red powder puff; French: pompon | Fabaceae | shrub |
| Calliandra surinamensis | English: Surinamese stickpea | Fabaceae | tree |
| Callisia fragrans | English: fragrant inch plant, basketplant, spironema | Commelinaceae | herb |
| Calopogonium mucunoides | English: calopo; Other: akankan-guakag (Guam) | Fabaceae | vine |
| Calotropis gigantea | English: calotrope, crown flower, bowstring hemp, madar; French: mercure végétal, mudar; Other: pua-kalaunu (Hawai'i); tahinu (French Polynesia) | Ascelepiadaceae | shrub |
| Calotropis procera | English: calotropis, rubber bush, apple of Sodom, mudar, madar, king’s crown, roostertree; French: arbre ŕ soie | Asclepiadaceae | shrub/tree |
| Cardiospermum grandiflorum | English: balloon vine; heart seed | Sapindaceae | vine |
| Carpobrotus edulis | English: ice plant, pigface, hottentot fig | Aizoaceae | succulent |
| Castilla elastica | English: Panama rubber tree, Mexican rubber tree, uletree; Other: pulu mamoe (American Samoa) | Moraceae | tree |
| Casuarina glauca | English: swamp oak, saltmarsh ironwood, longleaf ironwood, gray sheoak | Casuarinaceae | tree |
| Cecropia obtusifolia | English: trumpet tree, guarumo | Cecropiaceae | tree |
| Cecropia peltata | English: trumpet tree; French: parasolier, faux-ricin, pisse-roux, bois cannon | Cecropiaceae | tree |
| Cenchrus brownii | English: burgrass, burr grass, sand-bur, slimbristle sandbur | Poaceae | grass |
| Cestrum parqui | English: green cestrum, willow-leaved jessamine, Chilean cestrum, green poison-berry | Solanaceae | shrub |
| Chromolaena odorata | English: Siam weed, triffid weed, bitter bush, Jack in the bush; French: herbe du Laos; Other: kesengesil, masigsig (Guam); otuot (Chuuk), ngesngesil (Palau); wisolmatenrehwei (Pohnpei); mahsrihsrihk (Kosrae); hagonoy, agonoi, huluhagonoi (Philippines) | Asteraceae | herb |
| Chrysobalanus icaco | English: coco plum, icaco; French: icacier, icaquier, icaque, prune colon; Other: apolo (Fiji) | Chrysobalanaceae | shrub |
| Chrysophyllum oliviforme | English: satin leaf, wild star-apple, damson plum; Spanish: caimitillo | Sapotaceae | tree |
| Cinchona pubescens | English: quinine tree, red cinchona; French: quinquina rouge; Spanish: cascarilla | Rubiaceae | tree |
| Cinnamomum burmanni | English: padang cassia; French: cannelier de Malaisie | Lauraceae |