Radermachera sinica (Hance) Hemsley, Bignoniaceae

Click on an image for links to BIGGER PICTURES

Present on Pacific Islands?  yes

Primarily a threat at high elevations?  no

Other Latin names:  Stereospermum sinicum Hance

Common name(s): [more details]

Chinese: cai dou shu

Habit:  tree

Description:  "A tree up to 10 m tall, with glabrous petioles, leaf axis, and inflorescences.  Leaves are 2 (or 3)-pinnately compound; leaf rachis is about 30 cm long; lateral petiolules less than 5 mm long, terminal one about 1-2 cm long; leaflets ovate to ovate-lanceolate, 4-7 x 2-3.5 cm, glabrous, base broadly cuneate, margin entire, apex caudate-acuminate, lateral veins 5 or 6 on each side of midrib.  Inflorescences are paniculate, terminal, erect, 25-35 cm long; bracts are linear-lanceolate, about 10 cm long, deciduous, bractlets linear, 4-6 cm long.  Calyx has 5 ovate-lanceolate teeth about 12 mm long.  Corolla is white to pale yellow, campanulate-funnelform, 6-8 cm long, lobes rounded, about 2.5 cm long.  Stamens 4, didynamous; staminode present, filiform.  Ovules 2-rowed.  Style exserted; stigma 2-lobed.  Capsule is terete, nodding, angular, about 85 x 1 cm; pericarp is thin and leathery, indistinctly lenticellate; septum terete, slightly compressed.  Seeds are ellipsoid, with a 2 cm x 5 mm wing"  (Frohlich & Lau, 2008; p. 4).

Habitat/ecology:  In China (native), "slopes and forests; 300-800 m"  (Flora of China online).  In Hawai‘i, naturalizing in the Waimea Botanical Garden (Frohlich & Lau, 2008; p. 4).

Propagation:  Seed

Native range:  China, Ryukyu Islands, Taiwan, Bhutan, India, Myanmar, Vietnam (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	introduced invasive cultivated	Frohlich, Danielle/Lau, Alex (2008) (p. 4) Voucher cited: D. Frohlich & A. Lau s.n. (BISH 725935)

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)	native	Zhengyi, Wu/Raven, Peter H./Deyuan, Hong (2011) Guangdong, Guangxi, Guizhou, Yunnan
Japan Ryukyu Islands	Ryukyu Islands	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2011)
Taiwan Taiwan	Taiwan Island	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2011)
Vietnam Vietnam	Vietnam (Socialist Republic of)	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2011)

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

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

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

References:

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.

U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. 2011. National Genetic Resources Program. Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN). Online searchable database.

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