Tabebuia pallida (Lindl.) Miers, Bignoniaceae

Click on an image for links to BIGGER PICTURES

Present on Pacific Islands?  yes

Primarily a threat at high elevations?  no

Risk assessment results:  High risk, score: 11 (Go to the risk assessment)

Other Latin names:  Bignonia pallida Lindl.

Common name(s): [more details]

English: Cuban pink trumpet tree, white cedar, whitewood

Habit:  tree

Description:  "A tree of 5-35 m height with a greyish deeply fissured bark.  Leaves are 8-15 cm long and palmately compound with 3-5 spreading leaflets.  Petioles are 5-25 cm long.  The leaflets are broadly elliptic, 5-22 cm long and 2-11  cm wide.  Inflorescences are terminal panicles and consist of many pink rose or white flowers with corollas of 5-7 cm length.  Fruits are cylindrical and dehiscent capsules of 10-20 cm length and c. 15 mm width, containing numerous winged seeds"  (Weber, 2003; p. 426).

Habitat/ecology:  "Forests and forest edges, tropical hammocks.  This tree is a characteristic species of tropical dry and moist forests in the native range.  Where invasive, it establishes well in disturbed sites and forms dense thickets that shade out native plants and strongly reduce species richness.  Regeneration of native shrubs and trees is prevented, hindering natural succession and forest regeneration.  Little is known on the ecology of this tree"  (Weber, 2003; p. 426).

Propagation:  Wind-borne seed.

Native range:  Wet windward slopes of the Lesser Antilles (Staples & Herbst, 2005; p. 189).

Presence:

Pacific
Country/Terr./St. & Island group	Location	Cited status & Cited as invasive & Cited as cultivated & Cited as aboriginal introduction?	Reference & Comments
French Polynesia Society Islands	Tahiti Island	introduced cultivated	Florence, J./Chevillotte, H./Ollier, C./Meyer, J.-Y. (2011) Cultivée
State of Hawaii Hawaiian Islands	Kaua‘i Island	introduced invasive cultivated	Frohlich, Danielle/Lau, Alex (2012) (pp. 31-32) Voucher cited: OED 2010051401 (BISH)
State of Hawaii Hawaiian Islands	Kaua‘i Island		Bishop Museum (U.S.A. Hawaii. Honolulu.) (1990) (voucher ID: BISH 588615) Taxon name on voucher: Tabebuia pallida (Lindl.) Miers
State of Hawaii Hawaiian Islands	O‘ahu Island	introduced invasive cultivated	Frohlich, Danielle/Lau, Alex (2012) (pp. 31-32) Voucher cited: OED 2009092902 (BISH)
State of Hawaii Hawaiian Islands	O‘ahu Island		Bishop Museum (U.S.A. Hawaii. Honolulu.) (1990) (voucher ID: BISH 591266) Taxon name on voucher: Tabebuia pallida (Lindl.) Miers
New Caledonia New Caledonia Archipelago	Île Grande Terre	introduced cultivated	MacKee, H. S. (1994) (p. 22) Vouchers cited: Suprin 1436 (NOU), MacKee 40190, MacKee 41851
Palau Palau (main island group)	Koror Island		Beleu National Museum (Republic of Palau. Koror.) (1974) (voucher ID: BNM 10063) Taxon name on voucher: Tabebuia pallida Miers.

Pacific Rim
Country/Terr./St. & Island group	Location	Cited status & Cited as invasive & Cited as cultivated & Cited as aboriginal introduction?	Reference & Comments
Singapore Singapore	Singapore (Republic of)	introduced cultivated	Chong, Kwek Yan/Tan, Hugh T. W./Corlett, Richard T. (2009) (p. 84) Cultivated only

Indian Ocean
Country/Terr./St. & Island group	Location	Cited status & Cited as invasive & Cited as cultivated & Cited as aboriginal introduction?	Reference & Comments
Mauritius Mautitius Islands (Mauritius and Rodrigues)	Mauritius Island	introduced invasive	Kueffer, C./Mauremootoo, J. (2004) (p. 6)
Mauritius Mautitius Islands (Mauritius and Rodrigues)	Rodrigues Island	introduced invasive	Kueffer, C./Mauremootoo, J. (2004) (p. 6)
Seychelles Seychelles Islands	Seychelles Islands	introduced invasive	Gerlach, J. (1996) (pp. 4-5)
Seychelles Seychelles Islands	Seychelles Islands	introduced invasive	Weber, Ewald (2003) (p. 426)

Control: 

Physical:  "Seedlings and saplings can be hand pulled or dug out".

Chemical:  "Larger stems are cut and the cut stumps treated with herbicide"  (Weber, 2003; p. 426).

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

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

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

References:

Beleu National Museum (Republic of Palau. Koror.). 1974. Voucher specimen #BNM10063(Otobed, D.O. P-10063).

Bishop Museum (U.S.A. Hawaii. Honolulu.). 1990. Voucher specimen #BISH588615(Lorence, D.H. 6458).

Bishop Museum (U.S.A. Hawaii. Honolulu.). 1990. Voucher specimen #BISH591266(Staples, G.W. 701).

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.

Florence, J./Chevillotte, H./Ollier, C./Meyer, J.-Y. 2011. Base de données botaniques Nadeaud de l'Herbier de la Polynésie Française (PAP). (online resource).

Frohlich, Danielle/Lau, Alex. 2012. New plant records for the Hawaiian Islands 2010-2011. In: Evenhuis, Neal L. and Eldredge, Lucius G., eds. Records of the Hawaii Biological Survey for 2011. Part II: Plants. Bishop Museum Occasional Papers. 113:27-54.

Gerlach, J. 1996. Invasive trees on Seychelles Islands. Aliens 4:4-5.

Kueffer, C./Mauremootoo, J. 2004. Case studies on the status of invasive woody plant species in the western Indian Ocean. 3. Mauritius (islands of Mauritius and Rodrigues). Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, Forestry Department, Forest Resources Division, Forest Resources Development Service, Working Paper FBS/4-3E. 35 pp.

MacKee, H. S. 1994. Catalogue des plantes introduites et cultivées en Nouvelle-Calédonie. Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle, Paris, 164 p.

Rivers, Julie. 2004. Botanical survey update of Diego Garcia, Chagos Archipeligo, British Indian Ocean Territory. Naval Facilities Engineering Command, Pacific. 16 pp. plus "List of the higher plants of Diego Garcia".

Staples, George W./Herbst, Derral R. 2005. A tropical garden flora: plants cultivated in the Hawaiian Islands and other tropical places. Bishop Museum Press, Honolulu. 908 pp.

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

Weber, Ewald. 2003. Invasive plants of the World. CABI Publishing, CAB International, Wallingford, UK. 548 pp.