Bridelia insulana Hance, Phyllanthaceae

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Present on Pacific Islands?  yes

Primarily a threat at high elevations?  no

Risk assessment results:  Evaluate, score: 1 (Go to the risk assessment)

Habit:  tree

Description:  "Trees up to 17 m tall, 30 cm in d.b.h.; bark fulvous, nearly smooth; branchlets glabrous, with elevated lenticels.  Leaves: Stipules linear-lanceolate, ca. 3 mm long, yellowish pubescent. petioles 3-10 mm long; leaf blade coriaceous or nearly so, elliptic, oblong-elliptic or oblong-lanceolate, 5-25 cm long, 1.5-7.5 cm wide, base obtuse, apex acuminate or caudate-acuminate, glabrous or only puberulous abaxially, margins slightly revolute; lateral veins 5-11 pairs.  Flowers: Flowers andogynal grouped into densely axillary glomerules, glabrous except for the sepals and petals yellowish pubescent. male flowers 3 - 4 mm in diameter; pedicels very short; sepals triangular, ca. 2 mm long, 1 mm wide; petals spathulate, 0.3-0.4 mm long; filaments connate at middle under, free and extended; disc shallowly cup-shaped; rudimentary ovary ovoid-conical; female flowers 4-5 mm in diameter; pedicels ca. 1 mm long; sepals as in male; petals rhomboid-rounded, ca. 1 mm long; disc urceolate enclosing the ovary, lacerate with ovary inflated ovary ovoid, styles 2, free, ca. 1.5 mm long, bifid at the apex, lobes linear.  Fruits: Drupes oblong-ovoid or ovoid, 9-11 mm long, 7 - 8 mm in diameter, purple-black when maturity, 1-celled, the stalk very stout, 3 - 5 mm long"  (Hong Kong Flora and Vegetation).

Habitat/ecology:  "Montane dense or sparse forest. 200 - 400 m altitude"  (Hong Kong Flora and Vegetation).

Propagation:  Seed

Native range:  Southeast Asia, Australia (Queensland) and into the western Pacific (GRIN).

Presence:

Pacific
Country/Terr./St. & Island group	Location	Cited status & Cited as invasive & Cited as cultivated & Cited as aboriginal introduction?	Reference & Comments
State of Hawaii Hawaiian Islands	O‘ahu Island		Bishop Museum (U.S.A. Hawaii. Honolulu.) (1992) (voucher ID: BISH 627911) Taxon name on voucher: Bridelia insulana Hance
New Guinea (Indonesia and Papua New Guinea) New Guinea Island	New Guinea Island	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2011)
Philippines Philippine Islands	Philippine Islands	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2011)
Vanuatu New Hebrides Islands	Vanuatu (Republic of)	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2011)

Pacific Rim
Country/Terr./St. & Island group	Location	Cited status & Cited as invasive & Cited as cultivated & Cited as aboriginal introduction?	Reference & Comments
Australia Australia (continental)	Queensland	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2011)
China China	Hong Kong	native	Wu, Te-lin (2001) (p. 178)
Indonesia Indonesia	Indonesia (Republic of)	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2011)
Malaysia Malaysia	Malaysia (country of)	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2011)
Thailand Thailand	Thailand (Kingdom of)	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2011)
Vietnam Vietnam	Vietnam (Socialist Republic of)	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2011)

Additional information:
Information from Australian Tropical Rainforest Plants.
Information from the ASEAN Tropical Plant Database.

Additional online information about Bridelia insulana is available from the Hawaiian Ecosystems at Risk project (HEAR).

Information about Bridelia insulana as a weed (worldwide references) may be available from the Global Compendium of Weeds (GCW).

Taxonomic information about Bridelia insulana may be available from the Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN).

References:

Bishop Museum (U.S.A. Hawaii. Honolulu.). 1992. Voucher specimen #BISH627911(Herbst, D.R. 9605a).

U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. 2011. National Genetic Resources Program. Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN). Online searchable database.

Wu, Te-lin. 2001. Check List of Hong Kong Plants. Hong Kong Herbarium and the South China Institute of Botany. Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department Bulletin 1 (revised). 384 pp.