Funtumia elastica Stapf., Apocynaceae

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Present on Pacific Islands?  yes

Primarily a threat at high elevations?  no

Risk assessment results:  Reject, score: 10 (Go to the risk assessment)

Common name(s): [more details]

Chinese: si jiao shu

English: Ive rubber, Lagos rubber, Lagos silk rubbertree, West African rubbertree, bush rubber, silkrubber

French: arbre à caoutchouc

Samoan: pulu vao

Spanish: caucho africano

Habit:  tree

Description:  "A tree, up to 100 ft. high; trunk erect, cylindric; bark pale, spotted; branchlets terete, blackish when dry.  Leaves oblong or lanceolate-oblong, acuminate, attenuate at the base, 5-9 in. long, 1 1/4-2 1/2 in. broad, undulate, quite glabrous, foveolate in the leaf axils; secondary nerves 7-11 on each side, oblique; veins inconspicuous; petiole 2-5 in. long.  Cymes shortly peduncled, many-flowered, dense, glabrous; peduncle up to 3 in. long.  Calyx 2-2 1/4 in. long; sepals very broad, ovate or rotundate; intracalycular glands usually 2 with each sepal.  Corolla white or yellowish, conical in bud, up to 6 in long; tube constricted above the base, 3 1/2-4 in. long, glabrous without; lobes oblong, obtuse, 2 1/2-3 in. long.  Stamens inserted below the middle of the corolla-tube.  Disc 5-partite; segments crenate, slightly exceeding the ovary.  Follicles oblong-clavate when closed, obtuse or rotundate at the apex, woody, obscurely keeled along the sides, 6 in. long.  Seeds 6-9 in. long; awn 1 1/2-2 3/4 in. long, naked to the middle, hairs up to 2 1/2 in. long"  (Thiselton-Dyer, 1904; p. 191).

"Medium-sized tree with glossy opposite leaves, milky sap and paired long woody pods bearing numerous plumed seeds..."  (Whistler, 1988; p. 7).

Habitat/ecology:  (no habitat/ecology info known by PIER)

Propagation:  Wind-borne "parachute" seeds.

Native range:  Africa; also cultivated (GRIN).

Presence:

Pacific
Country/Terr./St. & Island group	Location	Cited status & Cited as invasive & Cited as cultivated & Cited as aboriginal introduction?	Reference & Comments
Samoa Western Samoa Islands	Savai‘i Island		Whistler, W. A. (1988) (p. 7) Voucher cited: Bristol 2273
Samoa Western Samoa Islands	Savai‘i Island	introduced invasive	Space, James C./Flynn, Tim (2002) (pp. 5-6)
Samoa Western Samoa Islands	Savai‘i Island		Bishop Museum (Honolulu) (1968) (voucher ID: BISH 28800) Taxon name on voucher: Funtumia elastica Stapf.
Samoa Western Samoa Islands	Savai‘i Island		Bishop Museum (Honolulu) (1989) (voucher ID: BISH 588406) Taxon name on voucher: Funtumia elastica Stapf.
Samoa Western Samoa Islands	Upolu Island		Whistler, W. A. (1988) (p. 7) Voucher cited: MacDaniels 1113
Samoa Western Samoa Islands	Upolu Island	introduced invasive	Space, James C./Flynn, Tim (2002) (pp. 5-6)
Samoa Western Samoa Islands	Upolu Island		Bishop Museum (Honolulu) (1968) (voucher ID: BISH 28521) Taxon name on voucher: Funtumia elastica Stapf.
Samoa Western Samoa Islands	Upolu Island		Bishop Museum (Honolulu) (1968) (voucher ID: BISH 28981) Taxon name on voucher: Funtumia elastica Stapf.
Samoa Western Samoa Islands	Upolu Island		Bishop Museum (Honolulu) (1972) (voucher ID: BISH 83830) Taxon name on voucher: Funtumia elastica Stapf.
Samoa Western Samoa Islands	Upolu Island		Bishop Museum (Honolulu) (1927) (voucher ID: BISH 130554) Taxon name on voucher: Funtumia elastica Stapf.
Samoa Western Samoa Islands	Upolu Island		Bishop Museum (Honolulu) (1978) (voucher ID: BISH 439286) Taxon name on voucher: Funtumia elastica Stapf.
Samoa Western Samoa Islands	Upolu Island		Bishop Museum (Honolulu) (1978) (voucher ID: BISH 439287) Taxon name on voucher: Funtumia elastica Stapf.

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)	introduced cultivated	Zhengyi, Wu/Raven, Peter H./Deyuan, Hong (2013) Cultivated in S. Yunnan.

Indian Ocean
Country/Terr./St. & Island group	Location	Cited status & Cited as invasive & Cited as cultivated & Cited as aboriginal introduction?	Reference & Comments
Seychelles Seychelles Islands	Seychelles Islands	introduced	Invasive Species Specialist Group (2017)

Comments:  Invading the understory and forming monospecific stands on the western half of Upolu (Whistler, 1992; p. 175). Also present and invading on Savai‘i.

Control:  If you know of control methods for Funtumia elastica, please let us know.