Litsea monopetala (Roxb.) Pers., Lauraceae

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Present on Pacific Islands?  yes

Primarily a threat at high elevations?  no

Other Latin names:  Tetranthera monopetala Roxb.

Common name(s): [more details]

Chinese: jia shi mu jiang zi

English: yati

French: bois d'oiseaux à grandes feuilles

Habit:  tree

Description:  "Shrubs or trees, up to 7 m tall and 60 cm in diameter. Bark dark brown, exfoliating in small corky pieces; inner bark white, odorless.  Wood brownish.  Branchlets densely, minutely rusty sub-lanuginose.  Leaves spirally arranged, chartaceous, variable, broadly elliptic to subovate-elliptic, 4-15 x 8-28 cm, obtuse, apiculate or shortly acuminate, base contracted into 1.5-2.5 cm long, slender, densely pilose petiole; upper surface glabrous, except the impressed midrib, smooth or densely, reticulate, nerves filiform, impressed; secondary nerves parallel, numerous; lower surface glaucous, sparsely, minutely pilose, denser on the nerves, 8-12 pairs of erect-patent, prominulous nerves, secondary nerves perpendicular to the nerves.  Umbels numerous in densely brown pilose, 0.5-1 (-2) cm long peduncles, these attached to dwarf (5 mm) axillary, bracteate branchlets or umbels behind the leaves; bracts 5-6 mm.  Male flower: tube obconical, pilose inside; tepals ovate-spathulate, 3.5 mm; stamens 9-12, filaments 3 mm, thin, pilose near the base, anthers narrow, 1.25 mm, outer ones introrse; glands stipitate.  Female flower: tube 1.5 mm; pedicel 2 mm long, pilose; tepals 1.5 mm; staminodes slightly shorter than the tepals; ovary glabrous; style thick, stigma peltate, lobed.  Fruit subglobose, up to 7 mm; cup shallow, up to 5 mm in diameter, pedicel up to 7 mm, slightly thickened at the apex" (Kostermans, 1978).

Habitat/ecology:  In Mauritius, invasive in mid-elevation moist forests (Lorence and Sussman, 1988).

Propagation:  Seed

Native range:  Pakistan, India, west Malesia, Thailand, Burma (Kostermans, 1978).

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	Maui Island	introduced	Starr, Forest/Starr, Kim (year unknown)
Philippines Philippine Islands	Philippine Islands	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2013)

Pacific Rim
Country/Terr./St. & Island group	Location	Cited status & Cited as invasive & Cited as cultivated & Cited as aboriginal introduction?	Reference & Comments
Cambodia Cambodia	Cambodia (Kingdom of)	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2013)
China China	China (People's Republic of)	native	Zhengyi, Wu/Raven, Peter H./Deyuan, Hong (2013) Thickets or sparse forests on sunny slopes; below 1500 m, but mostly found on hills at low elevations. Guangdong, Guangxi, SW Guizhou, Hainan, S Yunnan
China China	Hong Kong	native	Wu, Te-lin (2001) (p. 44)
Indonesia Indonesia	Indonesia (Republic of)	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2013) Java
Malaysia Malaysia	Malaysia (country of)	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2013)
Thailand Thailand	Thailand (Kingdom of)	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2013)
Vietnam Vietnam	Vietnam (Socialist Republic of)	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2013)

Indian Ocean
Country/Terr./St. & Island group	Location	Cited status & Cited as invasive & Cited as cultivated & Cited as aboriginal introduction?	Reference & Comments
La Réunion (France) La Réunion Island	La Réunion Island	introduced invasive	Kueffer, C./Lavergne, C. (2004) (p. 5)
Mauritius Mautitius Islands (Mauritius and Rodrigues)	Mauritius Island	introduced invasive	Lorence, D./Sussman, R. W. (1988) (pp. 187-204)
Mauritius Mautitius Islands (Mauritius and Rodrigues)	Mauritius Island	introduced invasive	Kueffer, C./Mauremootoo, J. (2004) (p. 6)

Control:  If you know of control methods for Litsea monopetala, please let us know.