Eswatini's Alien Plants Database

Swaziland's Alien Plants Database

Melia azedarach L.

MELIACEAE

syringa, Chinaberry, white cedar, cape lilac, tulip cedar, Indian bead tree, Persian lilac, margosa tree, azedarach, bead tree, berry tree, cape syringa, China tree, Chinese umbrella, Indian lilac

Invasive, Problem species

Origin: Asia to Australia; the form in southern Africa is an Indian cultivar

Growth Form: Tree

Plant Description: Plant: Deciduous, spreading tree up to 23 m high; bark on young stems reddish-brown and smooth. Leaves: Deep green, glossy above, turning yellow in autumn; odd-pinnate, leaflets serrated and sometimes lobed. Flowers: Lilac, ± 10 mm long, with purplish central column, in large, terminal, heavily perfumed sprays, September–November. Fruit: Berries, green turning yellow, thinly fleshy, becoming wrinkled and persisting after the leaves fall.

Key Features:

Control: cut well below ground level, and also herbicide mixed with diesel oil and painted on the stem and stump

Comments:

More information:
Weeds & Invasive Plants Home Page
NRCS Plants Database

Photo - leaves