Caesalpinia crista L., Fabaceae

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Present on Pacific Islands?  yes

Primarily a threat at high elevations?  no

Risk assessment results:  High risk, score: 7 (Go to the risk assessment)

Other Latin names:  Caesalpinia nuga (L.) W. T. Aiton; Guilandina nuga L.

Common name(s): [more details]

Chinese: hua nan yun shi

English: gray nicker

Filipino: bakaig

Habit:  vine

Description:  "Robust climber to 15 m long. Stems thick, glossy, with or without prickles, glabrous. Leaves: stipules obsolete; petiole and rachis 10-30 cm long, usually with prickles at base of pinnae; pinnae 2-5 pairs; leaflets 2 or 3 pairs, sometimes 4 or 5, broadly lanceolate to elliptic, rounded to acuminate, 2-10 cm long, to 25 mm wide, acute at base, glossy above, pale below, glabrous. Racemes axillary and terminal, forming groups to 40 cm long; rachis puberulous; pedicels 5-6 mm long. Flowers sweetly scented. Sepals 6-8 mm long, glabrous, with lowest hooded. Standard petal c. 5 mm wide on claw 5 mm long, yellow with orange-red veins and 2 green thickenings inside; other 4 petals elliptic, 8-10 mm long, yellow. Staminal filaments 8-10 mm long, woolly; anthers 1-1.2 mm long. Pistil 10-14 mm long, glabrous; ovule usually 1. Pod elliptic, beaked, slightly swollen, 4-7.5 cm long, 2.5-3.5 cm wide, indehiscent, dark brown, glabrous. Seed usually 1, orbicular to ovate or reniform, 2-2.5 cm long, black or dark brown"  (Flora of Australia online).

Habitat/ecology:  In Australia, "grows in vine forest margins and behind mangroves"  (Flora of Australia online).  On Christmas Island (Indian Ocean), "often on sandy beaches, mangrove swamp and river margins, on limestone rocks or in secondary scrub"  (Flora of Australia online).  In China (native): "mountain slopes, forests; 400-1500 m"  (Flora of China online).

Propagation:  Seed

Native range:  "India through Malesia to New Caledonia, Polynesia and north-eastern Queensland"  (Flora of Australia online).

Presence:

Pacific
Country/Terr./St. & Island group	Location	Cited status & Cited as invasive & Cited as cultivated & Cited as aboriginal introduction?	Reference & Comments
Federated States of Micronesia Yap Islands	Yap (Waqab) Island	native	Fosberg, F. R./Sachet, Marie-Hélène/Oliver, Royce (1979) (p. 96)
State of Hawaii Hawaiian Islands	O‘ahu Island	introduced invasive	Frohlich, Danielle/Lau, Alex (2008) (p. 6) Voucher cited: A. Lau 2007111601 (BISH)
New Caledonia New Caledonia	New Caledonia Islands	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2011)
Niue Niue	Niue Island	native	ILDIS Co-ordinating Centre (2011)
Palau Palau (main island group)	Babeldaob Island	native	Fosberg, F. R./Sachet, Marie-Hélène/Oliver, Royce (1979) (p. 96)
Palau Palau (main island group)	Babeldaob Island	native	Raulerson, L./Rinehart, A. F./Falanruw, M. C. (1996) (p. 28)
Palau Palau (main island group)	Koror Island	native	Fosberg, F. R./Sachet, Marie-Hélène/Oliver, Royce (1979) (p. 96)
Palau Palau (main island group)	Malakal Island	native	Fosberg, F. R./Sachet, Marie-Hélène/Oliver, Royce (1979) (p. 96)
Palau Rock Islands	Aulupse‘el Island	native	Fosberg, F. R./Sachet, Marie-Hélène/Oliver, Royce (1979) (p. 96)
Papua New Guinea Bismarck Archipelago	Bismarck Archipelago	native	ILDIS Co-ordinating Centre (2011)
Papua New Guinea Papua New Guinea (eastern New Guinea Island)	Papua New Guinea (eastern 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)

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)
Cambodia Cambodia	Cambodia (Kingdom of)	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2011)
China China	China (People's Republic of)	native	Zhengyi, Wu/Raven, Peter H./Deyuan, Hong (2011)
China China	Hong Kong	native	Wu, Te-lin (2001) (p. 134)
Indonesia Indonesia	Indonesia (Republic of)	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2011)
Japan Ryukyu Islands	Ryukyu Islands	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2011)
Malaysia Malaysia	Malaysia (country of)	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2011)
Singapore Singapore	Singapore (Republic of)	native	ILDIS Co-ordinating Centre (2011)
Singapore Singapore	Singapore (Republic of)	native	Chong, Kwek Yan/Tan, Hugh T. W./Corlett, Richard T. (2009) (p. 21) Vulnerable
Taiwan Taiwan	Taiwan Island	native	Zhengyi, Wu/Raven, Peter H./Deyuan, Hong (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)

Indian Ocean
Country/Terr./St. & Island group	Location	Cited status & Cited as invasive & Cited as cultivated & Cited as aboriginal introduction?	Reference & Comments
Australia (Indian Ocean offshore islands) Christmas Island Group	Christmas Island	native	Australian Biological Resources Study (2011)
India (Indian Ocean offshore islands) Andaman Islands	Andaman Islands	native	ILDIS Co-ordinating Centre (2011)
India (Indian Ocean offshore islands) Nicobar Islands	Nicobar Islands	native	ILDIS Co-ordinating Centre (2011)
Mauritius Mautitius Islands (Mauritius and Rodrigues)	Mauritius Island	introduced	ILDIS Co-ordinating Centre (2011)
Seychelles Seychelles Islands	Seychelles Islands	uncertain if native	ILDIS Co-ordinating Centre (2011)

Additional information:
Additional online information about Caesalpinia crista is available from the Hawaiian Ecosystems at Risk project (HEAR).

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

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

References:

Australian Biological Resources Study. 2011. Flora of Australia Online. Australian Biological Resources Study, Canberra.

Chong, Kwek Yan/Tan, Hugh T. W./Corlett, Richard T. 2009. A checklist of the total vascular plant flora of Singapore: native, naturalised and cultivated species. Raffles Museum of Biodiversity Research, National University of Singapore. 273 pp.

Fosberg, F. R./Sachet, Marie-Hélène/Oliver, Royce. 1979. A geographical checklist of the Micronesian dicotyledonae. Micronesica 15:1-295.

Frohlich, Danielle/Lau, Alex. 2008. New plant records from O‘ahu for 2007. In: Evenhuis, Neal L. and Eldredge, Lucias G., eds. Records of the Hawaii Biological Survey for 2007. Bishop Museum Occasional Papers 100:3-12.

ILDIS Co-ordinating Centre. 2011. International Legume Database & Information Service. Online searchable database.

Raulerson, L./Rinehart, A. F./Falanruw, M. C. 1996. A botanical reconnaissance of the proposed Compact-impact road alignment on Babeldaob Island, Republic of Palau. U. of Guam Herbarium Cont. No. 32. 78 pp.

U. S. Government. 2011. Integrated Taxonomic Information System (ITIS) (on-line resource).

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.

Zhengyi, Wu/Raven, Peter H./Deyuan, Hong. 2011. Flora of China (online resource).