Osmoxylon lineare (Merr.) Philipson, Araliaceae

Click on an image for links to BIGGER PICTURES

Present on Pacific Islands?  yes

Primarily a threat at high elevations?  no

Risk assessment results:  Evaluate, score: 3 (Go to the risk assessment)

Other Latin names:  Boerlagiodendron lineare Merr.

Habit:  shrub

Description:  "An erect shrub about 3 m high, the stems light gray, glabrous, shining, somewhat scurfy at the tips.  Leaves crowded at the apices of the branches, palmately cut into 4 to 6 linear segments which are free to the base, these segments glabrous, submembranaceous, 15 to 20 cm long, 1 to 1.5 cm wide, narrowed above to the acuminate apex, the base narrowly decurrent, the decurrent parts so narrow that the segments appear to be petiolulate, this portion 1 to 1.5 cm long, margins irregularly and slightly repand, the teeth minute, distant; nerves numerous, spreading; petioles 4 to 6 cm long, the base with 2 or 3 prominent crests.  Umbels compound, with few, dark-brown, fimbriate scales, the peduncles about 10, 2 cm long, bracteate at the base and apex, each bearing at its apex a short-peduncled central head and two lateral branches, the central head composed of numerous, dark-brown, fimbriate-lacerate bracteoles (sterile flowers fallen), the lateral branches about 3 cm long, with a pair of bracts at about the middle, each bearing a terminal head of perfect flowers 1 cm in diameter or less, these heads also with numerous dark-brown lacerate-fimbriate bracteoles.  Flowers sessile.  Calyx more or less funnel-shaped, truncate, about 2 mm long, 1 mm in diameter.  Petals and stamens not seen.  Ovary 5-celled.  Fruit ovoid, 5-ridged, 5-celled, about 3 mm long.  A most characteristic species, at once recognizable by its 4 to 6 linear segments which are almost distinct enough to be considered leaflets"  (Merrill, 1908; 3(4):253-254).

Habitat/ecology:  "Low bushy shrub along riverbanks. Cultivated as an ornamental for its dark green and shiny foliage"  (van Steenis, 1983; (9):553).

Propagation:  Seed

Native range:  Philippines (Luzon, Negros) (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		National Tropical Botanical Garden (U.S.A. Hawaii. Kalaheo.) (1999) (voucher ID: PTBG 28323) Taxon name on voucher: Osmoxylon lineare (Merr.) Philipson
Philippines Philippine Islands	Philippine Islands	native	Merrill, Elmer D. (1908) (pp. 253-254) As Boeriagiodendron lineare Merrill

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)	Australia (continental)	introduced cultivated	Randall, R. P. (2007) (p. 343)
Singapore Singapore	Singapore (Republic of)	introduced cultivated	Chong, Kwek Yan/Tan, Hugh T. W./Corlett, Richard T. (2009) (p. 65)

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

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

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

References:

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.

Merrill, Elmer D. 1908. New or notheworthy Philippine plants, IV. Philippine Journal of Science 3(4):219-267.

National Tropical Botanical Garden (U.S.A. Hawaii. Kalaheo.). 1999. Voucher specimen #PTBG28323(Flynn, Tim 6528).

Randall, R. P. 2007. The introduced flora of Australia and its weed status. CRC for Australian Weed Management, Department of Agriculture and Food, Western Australia. 524 pp.
Also:  Searchable online database at http://weeds.cbit.uq.edu.au/.