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

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

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 (2011) Cultivated in S. Yunnan.

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.

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

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

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

References:

Bishop Museum (Honolulu). 1927. Voucher specimen #BISH 130554 (MacDaniels, L.H. 1113).

Bishop Museum (Honolulu). 1968. Voucher specimen #BISH 28521 (Bristol, M.L. 1989).

Bishop Museum (Honolulu). 1968. Voucher specimen #BISH 28800 (Bristol, M.L. 2273).

Bishop Museum (Honolulu). 1968. Voucher specimen #BISH 28981 (Bristol, M.L. 2456).

Bishop Museum (Honolulu). 1972. Voucher specimen #BISH 83830 (Whistler, W.A. W 175).

Bishop Museum (Honolulu). 1978. Voucher specimen #BISH 439286 (Cox, P.A. 48).

Bishop Museum (Honolulu). 1978. Voucher specimen #BISH 439287 (Cox, P.A. 66).

Bishop Museum (Honolulu). 1989. Voucher specimen #BISH 588406 (Flynn, T. 3661).

Space, James C./Flynn, Tim. 2002. Report to the Government of Samoa on invasive plant species of environmental concern. USDA Forest Service, Honolulu. 83 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.

Whistler, W. A. 1988. Checklist of the weed flora of western Polynesia. Technical Paper No. 194, South Pacific Commission, Noumea, New Caledonia. 69 pp.

Whistler, W. A. 1992. Vegetation of Samoa and Tonga. Pac. Sci. 46(2):159-178.

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