TreeRM

Chinaberry

Melia azedarach · Meliaceae · also Chinaberry tree, Pride of India, Umbrella tree

A fast, short-lived tree (30-40 feet) with lacy dark leaves, fragrant lilac flowers in spring and clusters of yellow marble-sized berries that hang on all winter. The berries are poisonous to people, dogs and livestock, the wood is brittle, and it seeds and suckers into pastures and creek bottoms across the southern half of Texas, where its leaf litter changes soil chemistry and suppresses native plants. Listed as invasive by the Texas Department of Agriculture.

Broadleaf, drops leavesFast growingFull sunLow water
Chinaberry
O Tupinólogo, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Where it stands

Native

  • 🇮🇳 India · Native to southern Asia from India and the Himalayas through China to Australia

Invasive

  • 🇺🇸 United States · Texas Invasives reports it in AL, AR, AZ, CA, FL, GA, HI, LA, MO, MS, NC, NM, NY, OK, PR, SC, TN, TX, UT and VAsource
  • 🇺🇸 NC, United States · Listed as invasive by the NC Invasive Plant Council (per NC State Extension Plant Toolbox)source
  • 🇺🇸 TX, United States · Listed in the Texas Invasives (texasinvasives.org) plant database. Marked as a TDA noxious weed; found across the southern part of Texas; fruit poisonous; raises soil pH and suppresses natives.source

Prohibited

  • 🇺🇸 TX, United States · On the Texas Department of Agriculture Noxious and Invasive Plant List (4 TAC 19.300(a)) under 'Invasive plants'; Texas regulates the sale, distribution and importation of listed plantssource

Care

Do not plant; it is on the Texas Department of Agriculture invasive plant list, which regulates its sale and distribution. Remove by cutting and treating the stump with herbicide; cut trees and even root fragments resprout. Keep children and pets away from the fruit. Replace with Mexican plum, Texas redbud or anacua.

Benefits

FlowersDrought tolerant

Good for

Watch out for

Invasive elsewhereToxic partsWeak woodMessy fruitShort lived