Tetrapanax papyrifer (W. J. Hooker) K. Koch, Araliaceae

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Present on Pacific Islands?  yes

Primarily a threat at high elevations?  no

Risk assessment results: 

Evaluate, score: 5 (Go to the risk assessment (Pacific))
Evaluate, score: 6 (Go to the risk assessment (U.S. Florida))

Other Latin names:  Aralia papyrifera Hook.

Common name(s): [more details]

Chinese: tong tuo mu

English: Chinese rice-paper plant, rice-paper plant

French: aralie à papier

Spanish: aralia

Habit:  shrub/tree

Description:  "Shrubs or small trees, to 3.5 m tall, densely ferruginous or pale brown stellate tomentose. Trunk to 9 cm in diameter; pith homogeneous, white, large. Petiole terete, to 50 cm, glabrous; leaf blade ovate-oblong, 50-75 cm wide, papery or subleathery, abaxially densely ferruginous or stellate tomentose, adaxially glabrous, 7-12-lobed, base obtuse to cordate, margin entire to coarsely serrate, apex acuminate. Inflorescence terminal, peduncles 1-1.5 cm; umbels 1-2 cm in diameter, many flowered. Flowers yellowish white. Calyx ca. 1 mm, densely stellate tomentose. Corolla petals 4 (or 5), ca. 2 mm, densely stellate tomentose. Stamens 4 (or 5); filaments ca. 3 mm. Fruit dark purple at maturity, globose, ca. 4 mm in diameter"  (Flora of China online).

Habitat/ecology:  In New Zealand, "waste places, scrubland, pasture, gardens"  (Webb et al., 1988; p. 147).  On Norfolk and Lord Howe Islands, "An escape from cultivation, preferring damp sites, now establishing itself by stoloniferous growth"  (Flora of Australia online).  In China, "mixed thickets; 100-2800 m"  (Flora of China online).

Propagation:  Seed

Native range:  Taiwan and the Ryukyu Islands (GRIN).  Southern China and Taiwan  (Flora of Australia online).  "Probably native to Taiwan and introduced in S. China"  (Flora of China online).

Presence:

Pacific
Country/Terr./St. & Island group	Location	Cited status & Cited as invasive & Cited as cultivated & Cited as aboriginal introduction?	Reference & Comments
Australia (Pacific offshore islands) Lord Howe Island	Lord Howe Island	introduced invasive cultivated	Australian Biological Resources Study (2011) Vouchers cited: M.M.J. van Balgooy 1049 (K), G. Uhe 1321 (K)
Australia (Pacific offshore islands) Norfolk Islands	Norfolk Island	introduced invasive cultivated	Australian Biological Resources Study (2011) Voucher cited: W.R. Sykes NI 471 (CHR)
State of Hawaii Hawaiian Islands	Hawai‘i (Big) Island	introduced invasive cultivated	Parker, James L./Parsons, Bobby (2012) (p. 56) Voucher cited: J. Parker & R. Parsons BIED80 (BISH)
State of Hawaii Hawaiian Islands	O‘ahu Island	introduced invasive	Lau, Alex/Frohlich, Danielle (2012) (p. 8) Voucher cited: OED 2009010901 (BISH)
New Caledonia New Caledonia Archipelago	Île Grande Terre	introduced invasive cultivated	MacKee, H. S. (1994) (p. 19) Vouchers cited: MacKee 28874, Harbulot in MacKee 44095

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	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2011)
Japan Japan	Japan (country)	introduced	Mito, Toshikazu/Uesugi, Tetsuro (2004) (p. 186)
Japan Ryukyu Islands	Ryukyu Islands	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2011)
New Zealand New Zealand	New Zealand (country)	introduced invasive cultivated	Webb, C. J./Sykes, W. R./Garnock-Jones, P. J. (1988) (p. 147)
Taiwan Taiwan	Taiwan Island	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2011)

Also reported from
Country/Terr./St. & Island group	Location	Cited status & Cited as invasive & Cited as cultivated & Cited as aboriginal introduction?	Reference & Comments
United States (continental except west coast) United States (other states)	USA (Florida)	introduced	U.S. Dept. Agr., Nat. Res. Cons. Serv. (2011)

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

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

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

References:

Australian Biological Resources Study. 2011. Flora of Australia Online. Australian Biological Resources Study, Canberra.

Lau, Alex/Frohlich, Danielle. 2012. New plant records from O‘ahu for 2009. In: Evenhuis, Neal L. and Eldredge, Lucius G., eds. Records of the Hawaii Biological Survey for 2011. Part II: Plants. Bishop Museum Occasional Papers. 113:7-26.

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

Mito, Toshikazu/Uesugi, Tetsuro. 2004. Invasive alien species in Japan: the status quo and the new regulation for prevention of their adverse effects. Global Environmental Research 8(2)/2004: 171-191.

Parker, James L./Parsons, Bobby. 2012. New plant records from the Big Island for 2009. In: Evenhuis, Neal L. and Eldredge, Lucius G., eds. Records of the Hawaii Biological Survey for 2011. Part II: Plants. Bishop Museum Occasional Papers. 113:55-63.

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

U.S. Dept. Agr., Nat. Res. Cons. Serv. 2011. The PLANTS Database. National Plant Data Center, Baton Rouge, LA 70874-4490 USA.

Webb, C. J./Sykes, W. R./Garnock-Jones, P. J. 1988. Flora of New Zealand, Volume IV: Naturalised pteridophytes, gymnosperms, dicotyledons. Botany Division, DSIR, Christchurch. 1365 pp.

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