Click on images to enlarge
infestation in bushland (Photo: Sheldon Navie)
habit in flower (Photo: Sheldon Navie)
habit with bright green new growth (Photo: Sheldon Navie)
young branches and paired leaves (Photo: Sheldon Navie)
close-up of leaf undersides (Photo: Sheldon Navie)
flower buds (Photo: Sheldon Navie)
the red to pink flowers have long green floral tubes and are arranged in clusters (Photo: Sheldon Navie)
close-up of flower (Photo: Sheldon Navie)
winged fruit beginning to develop (Photo: Sheldon Navie)
Quisqualis indica L.
Chinese honeysuckle, drunken sailor, quisqualis, Rangoon creeper, red jasmine
Native to tropical Africa (i.e. Benin, Ivory Coast, Ghana, Mali, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Togo, Tanzania, Zaire and Angola), the Indian Sub-continent (i.e. India, Nepal and Sri Lanka), China, Taiwan and south-eastern Asia (i.e. Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand, Vietnam, Malaysia, Papua New Guinea and the Philippines).
It is also thought to be native to some parts of northern Australia (i.e. it is regarded as being native to the coastal districts of northern Western Australia).
This species is occasionally naturalised in northern Queensland and the northern parts of the Northern Territory. It is possibly also naturalised in south-eastern Queensland.
Naturalised overseas in New Caledonia, south-eastern USA (i.e. Florida) and the Caribbean (e.g. Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands).
Rangoon creeper (Quisqualis indica) is regarded as an emerging environmental weed in northern Queensland and the northern parts of the Northern Territory and is a potential environmental weed or "sleeper weed" in other warmer and wetter parts of the country.
This garden ornamental is persisting and becoming weedy around old settlements in the northern parts of the Northern Territory. For example, Rangoon creeper (Quisqualis indica) is regarded as a medium priority weed species in aboriginal lands in the Northern Land Council area and has been recorded in Holmes Jungle Nature Park.
Rangoon creeper (Quisqualis indica) has also been identified as a potential pest species in local government Pest Management Plans for the Cape York Peninsula in northern Queensland. It is possibly also becoming naturalised along creeks in Brisbane in south-eastern Queensland.
Fact sheets are available from Department of Employment, Economic Development and Innovation (DEEDI) service centres and our Customer Service Centre (telephone 13 25 23). Check our website at www.biosecurity.qld.gov.au to ensure you have the latest version of this fact sheet. The control methods referred to in this fact sheet should be used in accordance with the restrictions (federal and state legislation, and local government laws) directly or indirectly related to each control method. These restrictions may prevent the use of one or more of the methods referred to, depending on individual circumstances. While every care is taken to ensure the accuracy of this information, DEEDI does not invite reliance upon it, nor accept responsibility for any loss or damage caused by actions based on it.
Copyright © 2016. All rights reserved. Identic Pty Ltd. Special edition of Environmental Weeds of Australia for Biosecurity Queensland.
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