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Species
Cupaniopsis anacardioides (A.Rich.) Radlk. forma genuina Radlk.
IUCN
NCBI
EOL Text
Barcode of Life Data Systems (BOLDS) Stats
Public Records: 6
Specimens with Barcodes: 12
Species With Barcodes: 1
Rounded Global Status Rank: GNR - Not Yet Ranked
While carrotwood invades a variety of natural communities, including dunes, coastal strand, sand pine scrub, slash pine flatwoods, cypress swamps, freshwater marshes and river banks, it poses a special threat to coastal ecosystems like mangrove swamps and tropical hammocks. Coastal plant communities provide crucial erosion control, water quality benefits, and food and shelter for wildlife. Once introduced, carrotwood forms dense monocultures, crowding out and out-competing native plants for available light and nutrients.
Because mangroves provide critical habitat for wading and diving birds, some of which are designated Species of Special Concern, and serve as nursery grounds for crabs, other crustaceans, invertebrates and commercial and recreational fish, the impacts of carrotwood establishment are serious and far-reaching. Coastal hammocks and mangroves are continually losing ground to development and are also impacted by natural forces such as tropical storms and hurricanes. Alteration of species composition and competition by invasive exotic species increases stress to the remaining hammocks. Because carrotwood is a popular, fast-growing landscape tree that is widely planted and very adaptable, the impacts to mangroves and other habitats are expected to increase. Carrotwood has also been found growing among other aggresive, invasive exotic trees.
Cupaniopsis anacardioides, with common names tuckeroo, carrotwood, beach tamarind and green-leaved tamarind, is a species of flowering tree in the soapberry family, Sapindaceae, that is native to eastern and northern Australia. The usual habitat is littoral rainforest on sand or near estuaries. The range of natural distribution is from Seven Mile Beach, New South Wales (34.8° S) to Queensland, northern Australia and New Guinea.
C. anacardioides is an invasive species in some parts of the United States, primarily Florida and Hawaii.[1]
Description[edit]
Growing up to 10 metres (33 ft) with a stem diameter of 50 centimetres (20 in). The bark is smooth grey or brown with raised horizontal lines. The bases of the trees are usually flanged.
Leaves are pinnate and alternate with six to ten leaflets. These are not toothed, and are egg-shaped to elliptic-oblong,and 7 to 10 centimetres (2.8 to 3.9 in) long. The tips are often notched or blunt. Leaf veins are evident on both sides. The veins are mostly raised underneath.
Greenish white flowers form on panicles from May to July. The fruit is an orange to yellow capsule with three lobes. There is a glossy dark brown seed inside each lobe. The seeds are covered in a bright orange aril. Fruit ripens from October to December, attracting many birds including Australasian Figbird, Olive-backed Oriole and Pied Currawong.
Germination from fresh seed occurs without difficulty, particularly if the seed is removed from the aril and soaked for a few days.
Uses[edit]
It is an attractive plant as an ornamental or a street tree, particularly by coastal areas.
References[edit]
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Cupaniopsis anacardioides. |
- ^ "Cupaniopsis anacardioides as a weed in Florida". University of Florida. Retrieved 2009-08-03.
- Floyd, A.G., Rainforest Trees of Mainland South-eastern Australia, Inkata Press 1989, ISBN 0-909605-57-2 page 355
- "Cupaniopsis anacardioides". PlantNET - NSW Flora Online. Retrieved 2009-08-03.
License | http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/ |
Rights holder/Author | Wikipedia |
Source | http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Cupaniopsis_anacardioides&oldid=627648828 |
Distribution: Endemic to Australia; grown in the warmer parts of the world. The trees are valued for their excellent timber.
License | http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/ |
Rights holder/Author | eFloras.org Copyright © Missouri Botanical Garden |
Source | http://www.efloras.org/florataxon.aspx?flora_id=5&taxon_id=250063394 |
University of Florida Herbarium specimens document carrotwood cultivation as early as 1955 in eastern Florida. A separate introduction in Sarasota, Florida in 1968 resulted in large scale propagation and use as an ornamental tree. Carrotwood became a popular landscape tree throughout southern Florida in the late 1970s and early 1980s. By 1990, wild carrotwood seedlings began to be seen in the wild in various habitats.
anacardioides: with leaves resembling the Cashew nut, Anacardium occidentale
License | http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/ |
Rights holder/Author | Mark Hyde, Bart Wursten, Petra Ballings, Flora of Zimbabwe |
Source | http://www.mozambiqueflora.com/cult/species.php?species_id=203660 |
As of 1996, carrotwood has been documented to occur in natural areas in fourteen Florida counties, from Brevard and Hillsborough counties, southward. The current distribution of carrotwood parallels that of mangrove tree species. While naturalized carrotwood infestations are limited primarily to coastal areas, inland populations are beginning to surface. Carrotwood has also been used ornamentally in California, but there are no reports of naturalized populations there, perhaps due to their drier climate. Cold tolerance may limit its potential distribution. According to one reference, carrotwood is able to withstand temperatures to about 22 F (-6 C). Test specimens in northern Florida, however, have withstood winters at least that cold.
Australia, Irian Jaya (Indonesia) and Papua New Guinea
Carrotwood is a fast-growing evergreen tree that grows to a height of about 35 feet. The leaves are large and compound, made up of four to ten oblong leaflets, each 4 to 8 inches long, and attached by a swollen stalk. Leaflet edges tend to be wavy with rounded tips that are often indented. Leaves alternate along the stems. In Florida, flowering occurs in the winter, from January to March. Clusters of small, greenish-white flowers are borne on stalks that emerge from leaf axils. Flowers are unisexual, with each flower cluster containing both male and female flowers. The brightly colored fruit is a yellow, three-lobed capsule which, when ripe (May to June) splits open to expose three shiny black seeds encased in red or orange fleshy tissue.
NOTICE: As of July 1999, carrotwood has been added to the State of Florida List of Noxious Weeds.