Title: Tipuana tipu (Benth.) Duntze

Scientific name:

Tipuana tipu (Benth.) Duntze

Common name(s):

rosewood, tipuana tree



Source & more images (via ALA)

Habitat: Native to southern Bolivia and northern Argentina. Common in gallery forests of the Andes, found in both valleys and mountain forests up to 2900 m. Grows under a wide range of climatic conditions and tolerates a variety of soils although prefers soils with good drainage. Grow on foothills and borders of dry farming lands (Cruz et al., 2002). Grows in subtropical environment with warm year-round temperatures in native range. Grows well in moist conditions and will survive temperatures to minus 6.5 ° C. Invades disturbed sites such as roadsides and creekbanks, also grows in woodland and open grassland areas with an absence of grazing (CRC for Australian Weed Management, 2003).



Distribution:



Original source via GBIF


Invasiveness Assessment

ESTABLISHMENT


1. Germination requirements? Seed germinates April-Aug (from growth calendar). Germination is highest in winter, when ample water is available (CRC Weed Management, 2003). Propagation by scarified seed (Bodkin, 1990). Fresh scarified seed in Spring (Page & Olds, 1998). Despite inconsistencies in the data, all suggest that adequate, but seasonal, rainfall and temperature is required to break a dormancy imposed by the seed coating.

2. Establishment requirements? Pioneer species, dominating early forest successional stages (Grau et al., 1996). Open, sunny position (Bodkin, 1990). Requires access to direct light to establish.

3. How much disturbance is required? Invades disturbed sites such as roadsides and creekbanks, and also grows in woodland and open grassland areas where grazing is absent. Able to spread rapidly into woodlands, firebreaks, tracks, roadsides and other open areas (CRC Weed Management, 2003). Able to establish in natural ecosystems that are relatively intact or have only minor disturbance.

GROWTH / COMPETITIVE


4. Life form? Family Fabaceae (Cruz et al., 2002)– leguminous plant.

5. Allelopathic properties? None recorded in CRC Weed Management (2003).

6. Tolerates herb pressure? In Bolivia…considered the most important fodder species…regrows well after grazing (Cruz et al, 2002). Cattle will eat new growth and thus kill rosewood seedlings (CRC Weed Management, 2003). Mature trees will be able to continue reproducing under herbivory pressure, as tree can reach heights variously reported from 10m to 30m (beyond the reach of stock) and seed is wind-dispersed (CRC Weed Management, 2003), with the potential to germinate beyond the fenceline.

7. Normal growth rate? Fast growth rate (Cruz et al., 2002). Up to 4m in first two years of growth (CRC Weed Management, 2003).

8. Stress tolerance to frost, drought, w/logg, sal. etc? Drought resistant, tolerates temperatures below 0°C and survives very high levels of salinity (Cruz et al., 2002). This contrasts with findings by Dunn et al. (1994) that T. tipu has poor survival in saline soils. This tree probably has some tolerance to salt, but could not be considered highly salt tolerant. Drought and frost tender when young (Bodkin, 1990). Will survive in temperatures down to minus 6.5°c (CRC Weed Management, 2003), which may refer to mature trees. The susceptibility of young trees to drought and frost puts this species in the lowest threat category.

REPRODUCTION


9. Reproductive system? Flowers bisexual. Pollinated by bees (Cruz et al., 2002). Sexual reproduction only. Will tend towards the medium value in the absence of more specific data.

10. Number of propagules produced? Ability to produce many seeds and achieve high germination rates…up to 10 000 seeds per plant (CRC Weed Management, 2003).

11. Propagule longevity? Orthodox seed. If stored at low moisture content at low temperatures, they can retain full viability for several years (Cruz et al., 2002). Presume less than 5 years.

12. Reproductive period? A pioneer species, still present in secondary forests 20-50 years old (Grau et al, 1996). This indicates that the trees live for at least 20 years, producing seed from the age of 8-10 years (see Q 13 below).

13. Time to reproductive maturity? Trees normally start to set fruit when they are 8-10 years old (Cruz et al, 2002).

DISPERSAL


14. Number of mechanisms? Winged pod (samara) (Cruz et al., 2002). Wind and water (when near waterways). Does not spread vegetatively (CRC Weed Management, 2003).

15. How far do they disperse? Depending on wind velocity and distance above the ground, rosewood seeds can be carried considerable distances away from the parent plant (CRC Weed Management, 2003). Water dispersal (see Q. 14) may sometimes carry them further. Most propagules will disperse 20-200m, very few will disperse to 1km.


Impact Assessment

RECREATION


1. Restrict human access? As a tree to 23m with a main trunk and elevated crown (Henderson, 2001), human access should not be impeded.

2. Reduce tourism? As a deciduous tree, invading creek banks and woodlands (CRC Weed Management, 2003) this plant would be obviously out of place to the average visitor, however it should not affect recreational use.

3. Injurious to people? No spines, burrs or toxicity noted in Henderson (2001).

4. Damage to cultural sites? This large tree (Henderson, 2001) has the potential to have a visual effect on cultural sites.

ABIOTIC


5. Impact flow? Invades riverbanks (Henderson, 2001), but not recorded in waterways and horticultural recommendations are for well-drained soil (Page & Olds, 1998 eds.) so unlikely to impact flow.

6. Impact water quality? This “large, massively branched deciduous tree” invades riverbanks (Henderson, 2001), and so has the potential to drop large amounts of leaf litter into waterways, which could lead to increased algal growth, with the potential to decrease light and oxygen levels in the water.

7. Increase soil erosion? See q. 5. As it is not recorded in waterways it is unlikely to increase soil erosion. “It is used for…erosion control” (Cruz et al., 2002).

8. Reduce biomass? In the roadsides and riverbanks, savannahs (Henderson, 2001), woodland and open grassland areas that it invades (CRC Weed Management, 2003), this large tree (Henderson, 2001) is likely to increase carbon sequestering biomass.

9. Change fire regime? “It’s ability to spread rapidly into woodlands, firebreaks, tracks, roadsides and other open areas has the potential to affect fire regimes” (CRC Weed Management, 2003). As a large plant it is likely to increase both the intensity and the frequency of fires in these landscapes, although the degree of change would depend on the infestation, so a medium value was chosen.

COMMUNITY HABITAT


10(a) Impact on composition of high value EVC? Climate modelling shows that this species is not likely to occur as an invasive plant in Victoria.

10(b) Impact on medium value EVC? Climate modelling shows that this species is not likely to occur as an invasive plant in Victoria.

10(c) Impact on low value EVC? Climate modelling shows that this species is not likely to occur as an invasive plant in Victoria.

11. Impact on structure? As a tree to 10m with a main trunk and elevated crown (CRC Weed Management, 2003), the plant is likely to compete for sunlight with small trees, tall and medium shrubs, grasses and groundcovers. In most of communities that it invades this would comprise most strata, but the degree of impact would depend on the level of infestation.

12. Effect on threatened flora? Climate modelling shows that this species is not likely to occur as an invasive plant in Victoria.

FAUNA


13. Effect on threatened fauna? Climate modelling shows that this species is not likely to occur as an invasive plant in Victoria.

14. Effect on non-threatened fauna? “Grows in woodland and open grassland areas” (CRC Weed Management, 2003). May reduce the available food for fauna that depend on ground-level vegetation. May be browsed by larger fauna.

15. Benefits fauna? “Since [native long-tailed pal-blue] butterflies are often seen round specimens of tipu tree…they probably breed on this too” (CaLM, 2005).

16. Injurious to fauna? No spines, burrs or toxicity noted in Henderson (2001).

PEST ANIMAL


17. Food source to pests? As a tree (Henderson, 2001), provides little to no food for pest species.

18. Provides harbor? As a deciduous tree (Henderson, 2001), would provide little or no harbour to pest species.

AGRICULTURE


19. Impact yield? “Valued as a shade tree, a source of ‘rosewood’ timber and, in some circumstances, fodder for stock…It is popular in the Queensland pastoral industry for fattening stock during the winter period…cattle will eat new growth and thus kill rosewood seedlings.” (CRC Weed Management, 2003). Soil improvement by rhizomatous roots and leaf litter improve the nutrient content and texture of soil “leading to increased pasture quality” (Cruz et al., 2002). Impact on yield likely to be positive rather than negative.

20. Impact quality? See Q. 19, not likely to reduce the quality of stock nor to contaminate crop harvests.

21. Affect land values? See Q.19, no reason to reduce land value.

22. Change land use? See Q. 19, no reason to change land use.

23. Increase harvest costs? See Q. 19 no increase in harvest costs.

24. Disease host/vector? Not recorded as a host of agricultural disease.




Feedback:

Do you have additional information about this plant that will improve the quality of the assessment? If so, we would value your contribution.


Assessment ratings originally made by the Victorian Department of Primary Industries.
The entry of this assessment was made possible through the generous support of The Weed's Network.






Attachments:
Potential Distribution Tipuana tipu.doc
1285710.jpg
Capture.JPG
Related Articles
referenced by (2)
wra1036: Common Name - T (via tipuana tree)wra1032: Common Name - R (via rosewood)
Article: wra5658 (permalink)
Categories: :wra:t, :wra:inv1, :wra:invmh, :wra:inv2, :wra:invml, :wra:inv3, :wra:inv4, :wra:inv5, :wra:invl, :wra:inv6, :wra:inv7, :wra:invh, :wra:inv8, :wra:inv9, :wra:inv10, :wra:inv11, :wra:inv12, :wra:inv13, :wra:inv14, :wra:inv15, :wra:imp1, :wra:impl, :wra:imp2, :wra:impml, :wra:imp3, :wra:imp4, :wra:imp5, :wra:imp6, :wra:imp7, :wra:imp8, :wra:imp9, :wra:impm, :wra:imp10a, :wra:imp10b, :wra:imp10c, :wra:imp11, :wra:impmh, :wra:imp12, :wra:imp13, :wra:imp14, :wra:imp15, :wra:imp16, :wra:imp17, :wra:imp18, :wra:imp19, :wra:imp20, :wra:imp21, :wra:imp22, :wra:imp23, :wra:imp24
Date: 27 November 2009; 4:18:57 PM AEDT

Author Name: Michelle Heitch
Author ID: heitchm