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Scientific Name
Synonyms
Family
Common Names
Origin
Cultivation
Naturalised Distribution
Habitat
Habit
Distinguishing Features
Stems and Leaves
Flowers and Fruit
Reproduction and Dispersal
Environmental Impact
Legislation
Management
Similar Species
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Click on images to enlarge

habit in spring with immature fruit (Photo: Sheldon Navie)

habit in late summer (Photo: Sheldon Navie)

habit in autumn with mature fruit and bright red leaves (Photo: Land Protection, QDNRW)

close-up of bark on main trunk (Photo: Sheldon Navie)

young leaves in spring (Photo: Sheldon Navie)

once-compound leaf with several pairs of leaflets and a single terminal leaflet (Photo: Sheldon Navie)

close-up of leaflets in autumn (Photo: Sheldon Navie)

large clusters of greenish-yellow flowers (Photo: Sheldon Navie)

close-up of the inconspicuous flowers (Photo: Sheldon Navie)

cluster of immature fruit (Photo: Sheldon Navie)

close-up of immature fruit (Photo: Sheldon Navie)

autumn leaves and clusters of mature fruit (Photo: Jackie Miles)

close-up of mature fruit (Photo: Sheldon Navie)

vigorous suckering from the base of a damaged plant (Photo: Sheldon Navie)

Toxicodendron succedaneum

Scientific Name

Toxicodendron succedaneum (L.) Kuntze

Synonyms

Rhus succedanea L.
Toxicodendron succedanea (L.) Mold.

Family

Anacardiaceae

Common Names

Japanese lacquer tree, Japanese tallow tree, Japanese wax, Japanese wax tree, Japanese waxtree, poison ivy, poison sumac, rhus, rhus tree, scarlet rhus, sumac, varnish tree, wax tree, waxtree

Origin

Native to the Indian Sub-continent (i.e. Bhutan, Nepal, northern India and northern Pakistan) and eastern Asia (i.e. China, Japan, Taiwan, Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand, Vietnam and western Indonesia).

Cultivation

Rhus tree (Toxicodendron succedaneum) has been widely cultivated as a garden and street tree, particularly in the temperate regions of Australia. It was usually grown for its brightly-coloured autumn foliage.

Naturalised Distribution

Locally naturalised in the coastal districts of central New South Wales and sparingly naturalised in south-eastern Queensland.

Habitat

A potential weed of disturbed sites, forests, open woodlands, urban bushland, roadsides, gardens and waste areas in temperate and sub-tropical regions.

Habit

A large shrub or small tree with a single trunk and spreading crown (usually growing 2-5 m tall but occasionally reaching up to 8 m in height) that loses its leaves in autumn (i.e. it is deciduous).

Distinguishing Features

Stems and Leaves

The main stem forms a single, upright (i.e. erect) trunk with greyish-brown coloured bark. The younger branches are hairless (i.e. glabrous) and smooth in texture, apart from some small raised bumps (i.e. lenticels).

The once-compound (i.e. pinnate) leaves (10-35 cm long) are alternately arranged along the branches and are borne on stalks (i.e. petioles) 3-10 cm long. They consist of 4-7 pairs of leaflets and a single terminal leaflet (i.e. they are imparipinnate), each leaflet being borne on a very short stalk (i.e. petiolule) 1-4 mm long. The leaflets (4-10 cm long and 1.5-3 cm wide) are elongated (i.e. lanceolate) or narrowly oval (i.e. elliptic) in shape, have entire margins, and taper to a point (i.e. acuminate apices). Leaves are initially bright green or dark green above and slightly greyish or bluish-green underneath, but in autumn they turn bright red, scarlet or crimson in colour before they are shed from the plant. They are usually hairless (i.e. glabrous) on both sufaces.

Flowers and Fruit

The flowers are creamy white, creamy-yellow or yellowish-green in colour (2-6 mm across) and borne in large branched clusters (7-20 cm long) near the tips of the branches (i.e. in axillary panicles). Separate male and female flowers are present in these clusters. Each flower has five tiny greenish sepals (about 1 mm long) and five small greenish-yellow or whitish petals (about 2 mm long), and is borne on a short stalk (i.e. pedicel) about 2 mm long. They also have five stamens and an ovary topped with a style and stigma. Flowering occurs mostly during spring and early summer.

The papery fruit (i.e. drupe) that turns from green to pale brown or blackish in colour as it ripens. These fruit (5-10 mm long and 7-11 mm across) are borne in large groups that hang from the branches, and each contains a single hard seed. Seeds are dark brown in colour, almost round in shape (i.e. sub-globular), and 3-5 mm across.

Reproduction and Dispersal

This species reproduces by seeds and vegetatively via suckers.

Dispersal is mostly aided by animals (particularly birds) that eat the fruit and deposit the intact seeds elsewhere. Spread also occurs occasionally through the sale of plants at nurseries and markets, and by seeds that are contained in dumped garden waste or contaminated soil.

Environmental Impact

Rhus tree (Toxicodendron succedaneum) is regarded as an environmental weed in New South Wales.

Legislation

This species is declared under legislation in the following states and territories:

Management

For information on the management of this species see the following resources:

Similar Species

Rhus tree (Toxicodendron succedaneum) can be confused with Chinese pistachio (Pistacia chinensis) and tree of heaven (Ailanthus altissima), as they all have once-compound (i.e. pinnate) leaves that are deciduous. These species can be distinguished by the following differences: