Artabotrys hexapetalus (L.f.) Bhandari, Annonaceae

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Present on Pacific Islands?  yes

Primarily a threat at high elevations?  no

Risk assessment results:  Low risk, score: 0 (Go to the risk assessment)

Other Latin names:  Artabotrys odoratissimus R. Br. ex Ker Gawl.; Artabotrys uncinatus (Lam.) Merr.

Common name(s): [more details]

Chinese: ying zhua hua

English: climbing ilang-ilang, climbing ylang-ylang, ylang-ylang

French: coq du levant, coque du levant

Habit:  shrub

Description:  "A powerful climber, the old stems of great thickness, covered with rather smooth grey bark and furnished with thick woody pointed spreading spines 2-4 cm long.  Leafy branches slightly puberulous.  Leaf-blade 6-15 cm long, 2-4.5 cm wide, narrowly elliptical, usually 3 to 4 times as long as wide, acute or almost so at base, short-acuminate at apex, not glossy; lateral veins 8-16 pairs.  Pedicel sparsely pubescent.  Sepals about 5 mm long, pubescent on outside.  Outer petals up to 1 cm wide.  Carpels glabrous.  Fruitlets 3-4 cm long when ripe, ovoid, conspicuously apiculate, quite glabrous.  Seeds 15-20 mm long, pale brown, smooth" (Dassanayake, 1983; p. 51).

"Climbing shrub, to 12 ft. long; leaves narrowly oblong-lanceolate, to 6 in. long; flowers not showy but very fragrant, 1-2 together on low peduncles, sepals reflexed, yellow, petals about 1 in. long; fruit narrowly obovoid, yellow, 1 1/2 in. long, sessile, in dense clusters 20 in long" (Bailey & Bailey, 1976; p. 111).

Habitat/ecology:  Moist forests (Bailey & Bailey, 1976; p. 111).  In Sri Lanka, "formerly rather commmon in dry country forests but rarely collected during the past decades" (Dassanayake, 1983; p. 51).

Propagation:  Seed.  "The fleshy fruit attracts birds and rats; several collectors have noted that this species seems to escape from cultivation, and it reseeds itself freely"  (Staples & Herbst, 2005; pp. 110-111).

Native range:  Sri Lanka, southern India, Bangladesh, Myanmar, China, Taiwan; cultivated and naturalized elsewhere (GRIN). "A native of southern Deccan Peninsula and Ceylon; reported from Java and South China but not indigenous there" (Dassanayake, 1983; p. 51).

Presence:

Pacific
Country/Terr./St. & Island group	Location	Cited status & Cited as invasive & Cited as cultivated & Cited as aboriginal introduction?	Reference & Comments
French Polynesia Society Islands	Tahiti Island	introduced cultivated	Florence, J. (2004) (p. 82)
French Polynesia Society Islands	Tahiti Island	introduced cultivated	Florence, J./Chevillotte, H./Ollier, C./Meyer, J.-Y. (2013) Voucher cited: J. Florence 7724 (PAP) Cultivée
State of Hawaii Hawaiian Islands	Hawai‘i (Big) Island	introduced invasive	Nagata, Kenneth M. (1995) (p. 11) Voucher cited: Natata 3891 (BISH) In kukui forest.
State of Hawaii Hawaiian Islands	Maui Island	introduced invasive	Starr, Forest/Starr, Kim/Loope, Lloyd L. (2003) (p. 24) East Maui. Voucher cited: Starr & Martz 001122-1 (BISH)
State of Hawaii Hawaiian Islands	O‘ahu Island	introduced invasive	Nagata, Kenneth M. (1995) (p. 11) Voucher cited: Nagata 3787 (BISH, HLA) In disturbed forest.
New Caledonia New Caledonia Archipelago	Île Grande Terre	introduced cultivated	MacKee, H. S. (1994) (p. 15) Vouchers cited: H. Brinon 1, Veillon 4544, Suprin in MacKee 45442
Philippines Philippine Islands	Philippine Islands	introduced cultivated	Merrill, Elmer D. (1923) (p. 173) As Artabotrys uncinatus) (Lam.) Merr. In occasional cultivation.
United States (other Pacific offshore islands) Midway Atoll	Sand Island	introduced cultivated	Starr, Forest/Starr, Kim/Loope, Lloyd (2008) (pp. B-4)

Pacific Rim
Country/Terr./St. & Island group	Location	Cited status & Cited as invasive & Cited as cultivated & Cited as aboriginal introduction?	Reference & Comments
China China	China (People's Republic of)	native	Zhengyi, Wu/Raven, Peter H./Deyuan, Hong (2013) Widely cultivated, rarely naturalized; 100-300 m. Fujian, Guangdong, Guangxi, Guizhou, Hainan, Jiangxi, Yunnan, Zhejiang.
China China	Hong Kong	introduced cultivated	Wu, Te-lin (2001) (p. 39) Cultivated in gardens.
Singapore Singapore	Singapore (Republic of)	introduced cultivated	Chong, Kwek Yan/Tan, Hugh T. W./Corlett, Richard T. (2009) (p. 15) Cultivated only
Taiwan Taiwan Island	Taiwan Island	native	Zhengyi, Wu/Raven, Peter H./Deyuan, Hong (2013) Widely cultivated, rarely naturalized; 100-300 m.

Indian Ocean
Country/Terr./St. & Island group	Location	Cited status & Cited as invasive & Cited as cultivated & Cited as aboriginal introduction?	Reference & Comments
Maldives Maldive Islands	Malè Atoll		Fosberg, F. R. (1957) (p. 18)

Control:  If you know of control methods for Artabotrys hexapetalus, please let us know.