Present on Pacific Islands?  no

Primarily a threat at high elevations?  no

Common name(s): [more details]

English: tie bush

Tahitian: akia, mou‘a, oa‘ao, o‘ovao, o‘ovau, ovau-ao

Habit:  shrub

Description:  "Small twiggy shrub, c. 0.3-1.25 m tall. Branchlets and twigs slender, terete, with scattered fine hairs when very young but soon quite glabrous, striate, blackish-purple. Leaves oblanceolate to elliptic or oblong, 1.5-6 x 0.6-2 (-2.6) cm, subcoriaceous, shining on the upper surface but duller below, glabrous or almost so, cuneate to attenuate at the base, obtuse (sometimes more or less emarginate) or acute at the apex; petiole 1-2 mm, glabrous. Flowers yellow or green, in dense axillary or terminal few-flowered spikes, subsessile or shortly (to c. 3 mm) pedunculate; pedicels c. 2 mm, articulated below the middle. Calyx tube 5-9 mm, sparsely pilose on the outer surface, glabrous within; lobes 2-3 mm, oblong to ovate, obtuse, sparsely pilose dorsally, glabrous within. Anthers oblong, c. 0.75-1 mm. Ovary ellipsoid-oblong, c. 2 mm, glabrous or sparsely pilose about the style base; hypogynal scales 2, linear, acute or usually truncate or incised at the apex; style very short (less than 0.5 mm), stigma large and solitary. Fruit broadly ellipsoid to subglobose, 4-6 mm, naked, fleshy, red or green, glabrous. Seed globose-pyriform, 3.75-5.75 mm, with a short apical point, black" (Dassanayake, 1981; pp. 503-504).

Habitat/ecology:  In Sri Lanka, "an introduced species now abundantly established on sandy roadside banks, grassland, forest margins" (Dassanayake, 1981; pp. 503-504).

Propagation:  Seed

Native range:  "India to China, throughout Malaysia and the Malay Islands to Australia" (Dassanayake, 1981; pp. 503-504).

Presence:

Pacific
Country/Terr./St. & Island group	Location	Cited status & Cited as invasive & Cited as cultivated & Cited as aboriginal introduction?	Reference & Comments
French Polynesia Marquesas Islands	Marquesas Islands	native	Welsh, S. L. (1998) (p. 279)
French Polynesia Society Islands	Bora Bora Island	native	Welsh, S. L. (1998) (p. 279)
French Polynesia Society Islands	Huahine Island	native	Welsh, S. L. (1998) (p. 279)
French Polynesia Society Islands	Maupiti (Maurua) Island		Fosberg, F. R. (1997) (p. 146) var. foetida R. Br.
French Polynesia Society Islands	Moorea Island	native	Welsh, S. L. (1998) (p. 279)
French Polynesia Society Islands	Raiatea (Havai) Island	native	Welsh, S. L. (1998) (p. 279) Voucher cited: BRY 26438
French Polynesia Society Islands	Taha‘a Island		Fosberg, F. R. (1997) (p. 146) var. foetida R. Br.
French Polynesia Society Islands	Tahiti Island	native	Welsh, S. L. (1998) (p. 279)
Papua New Guinea Papua New Guinea (eastern New Guinea Island)	Papua New Guinea (eastern New Guinea Island)	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2009)
Philippines Philippine Islands	Philippine Islands	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2009)

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)	New South Wales	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2009)
Australia Australia (continental)	Northern Territory	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2009)
Australia Australia (continental)	Queensland	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2009)
China China	China (People's Republic of)	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2009)
Indonesia Indonesia	Indonesia (Republic of)	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2009)
Malaysia Malaysia	Malaysia (country of)	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2009)
Taiwan Taiwan	Taiwan Island	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2009)
Thailand Thailand	Thailand (Kingdom of)	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2009)
Vietnam Vietnam	Vietnam (Socialist Republic of)	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2009)

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	Lorence, D./Sussman, R. W. (1986) (pp. 147-162)
Mauritius Mautitius Islands (Mauritius and Rodrigues)	Rodrigues Island	introduced invasive	Kell, S. (1997) (pp. 13-14)

Additional information:
An overview of invasive woody plants in the tropics.

Additional online information about Wikstroemia indica is available from the Hawaiian Ecosystems at Risk project (HEAR).

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

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

References:

Dassanayake, M. D., gen. ed. 1981. A revised handbook to the flora of Ceylon. Vol II. Amerind Pub. Co., New Delhi. 511 pp.

Fosberg, F. R. 1997. Preliminary checklist of the flowering plants and ferns of the Society Islands. Ed. by David R. Stoddart. U. Cal. Berkeley.

Kell, S. 1997. Alien plant invasions on Rodrigues Island (Indian Ocean). Aliens 5:13-14.

Lorence, D./Sussman, R. W. 1986. Exotic species invasion into Mauritius wet forest remnants. Journal of Tropical Ecology 2: 147-162.

Rejmánek, M. 1996. Species richness and resistance to invasions. In: Orians, G., R. Dirzo and J. H. Cushman (eds.). Biodiversity and ecosystem processes in tropical forests. Springer-Verlag. pp. 153-172.

U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. 2009. National Genetic Resources Program. Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN). Online searchable database.

Welsh, S. L. 1998. Flora Societensis: A summary revision of the flowering plants of the Society Islands. E.P.S. Inc., Orem, Utah. 420 pp.