# Chinaberry (Melia azedarach)

> 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.

Source: https://treerm.org/trees/melia-azedarach · Updated 2026-11-08 · License CC BY 4.0

## Facts

- Also called: Chinaberry tree, Pride of India, Umbrella tree
- Family: Meliaceae
- Type: Broadleaf, drops leaves
- Mature height: 12 m; spread 10 m
- Growth: Fast growing
- USDA hardiness zones: 7 to 10
- Light: Full sun
- Water: Low water
- Soil: Any well-drained soil; thrives in disturbed ground, fence rows and vacant lots
- Native range: Southern Asia from the Himalayan region through China to Australia; naturalized across the southern United States

**Benefits:** Flowers, Drought tolerant

**Watch out for:** Invasive elsewhere, Toxic parts, Weak wood, Messy fruit, Short lived

## 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.

## 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 VA); NC, United States (Listed as invasive by the NC Invasive Plant Council (per NC State Extension Plant Toolbox)); 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.)
- **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 plants)
- **Recommended:** Los Angeles, CA, United States (On the City Plants (Los Angeles) Street Tree Species List)

## Sources

- https://plants.usda.gov/plant-profile/MEAZ
- https://www.texasinvasives.org/plant_database/detail.php?symbol=MEAZ
- https://texasagriculture.gov/Regulatory-Programs/Plant-Quality/Noxious-and-Invasive-Plants
- https://plants.ces.ncsu.edu/plants/melia-azedarach/