Synonyms:

• (=) Melia azedarach var. japonica (G. Don) Makino
• (=) Melia azedarach var. sempervirens L.
• (=) Melia candollei A. Juss.
• (=) Melia floribunda Carrière
• (=) Melia toosendan Siebold & Zucc.

Common names:

• Cape-lilac  (Source: Aust Pl Common Names) - English
• chinaberry  (Source: World Econ Pl) - English
• chinaberry-tree  (Source: Aust Pl Common Names) - English
• Persian-lilac  (Source: Weeds SAfr 2001) - English
• Sichuan pagoda-tree  (Source: Herbs Commerce ed2) - English
• syringa berrytree  (Source: Kellerman et al.) - English
• Texas umbrella-tree  (Source: Aust Pl Common Names) - English
• tulip-cedar  (Source: Aust Pl Common Names) - English
• umbrella-cedar  (Source: Aust Pl Common Names) - English
• umbrella-tree  (Source: F Guat) - English
• white-cedar  (Source: Aust Pl Common Names) - English
• bessieboom syringa  (Source: Weeds SAfr 2001) - Afrikaans
• maksering  (Source: Weeds SAfr 2001) - Afrikaans
• arbre à chapelets  (Source: Dict Rehm) - French
• lilas des Indes  (Source: Dict Rehm) - French
• indischer Zedrachbaum  (Source: Dict Rehm) - German
• persischer Flieder  (Source: Dict Rehm) - German
• sendan  (Source: F JapanOhwi) - Japanese Rōmaji
• amargoseira-do-Himalaio  (Source: Dict Rehm) - Portuguese
• cinamomo  (Source: pers. comm.) - Portuguese (Brazil)
• sabonete-de-soldado  (Source: pers. comm.) - Portuguese (Brazil)
• melia  (Source: Dict Rehm) - Spanish
• paraíso  (Source: Dict Rehm) - Spanish
• zedrak  (Source: Kulturvaxtdatabas) - Swedish
• chuan liang zi  (Source: Herbs Commerce ed2) - Transcribed Chinese
• lian  (Source: F ChinaEng) - Transcribed Chinese
• meolguseulnamu  (Source: F Korea) - Transcribed Korean

Economic Importance:

• Environmental: ornamental (fide Zander ed14; Invasive Pl Spec)
• Materials: beads (fide Bot Beads World; as http://www.botanicalbeads.com/BBB_page_41.html,)
• Materials: wood (for the manufacture of fiber boards fide F Neotrop 28:24. 198)
• Medicines: folklore (fide Herbs Commerce, as M. toosendan; CRC MedHerbs ed2; Herbs Commerce ed2)
• Non-vertebrate poisons: potential for plant pest control (fide Pl Res SEAs 11:188, 190. 1997)
• Vertebrate poisons: mammals (fide Kingsbury; Kellerman et al.; Lampe & McCann)
• Weed: potential seed contaminant (fide Invasive Pl Spec; Weeds SAfr 2001)

Distributional Range:

Native

Asia-Temperate

• CHINA: China [Anhui (tropical), Zhejiang, Fujian, Henan, Hebei (s.), Hunan, Hubei, Gansu (s.), Jiangxi, Jiangsu, Guangdong, Guizhou, Shanxi (s.), Shandong, Shaanxi (s.), Sichuan, Yunnan, Guangxi, Xizang (s.e.), Hainan]

Asia-Tropical

• INDIAN SUBCONTINENT: Bhutan, India, Nepal, Sri Lanka
• PAPUASIA: Indonesia, [Irian Jaya] Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands
• INDO-CHINA: Laos, Thailand, Vietnam
• MALESIA: Indonesia, [Lesser Sunda Islands] Philippines

Australasia

• AUSTRALIA: Australia [New South Wales (e.), Northern Territory (n.), Queensland, Western Australia (n.)]


Cultivated (also cult.)

Naturalized

Africa

• MACARONESIA: Spain [Canary Islands]
• Africa

Asia-Temperate

• WESTERN ASIA: Cyprus
• EASTERN ASIA: Japan [Kyushu, Ryukyu Islands, Shikoku]

Asia-Tropical

• PAPUASIA: Solomon Islands

Australasia

• AUSTRALIA: Australia

Europe

• SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE: Croatia, Italy (incl. Sicily)
• SOUTHWESTERN EUROPE: France

Northern America

• Mexico, United States

Pacific

• NORTH-CENTRAL PACIFIC: United States [Hawaii]
• NORTHWESTERN PACIFIC: Northern Mariana Islands, Palau
• SOUTH-CENTRAL PACIFIC: Cook Islands, French Polynesia, Pitcairn
• SOUTHWESTERN PACIFIC: Fiji, Nauru, New Caledonia, Niue, Tonga

Southern America

• CARIBBEAN: West Indies
• CENTRAL AMERICA: Guatemala, Nicaragua
• NORTHERN SOUTH AMERICA: French Guiana, Guyana, Suriname, Venezuela
• BRAZIL: Brazil
• WESTERN SOUTH AMERICA: Ecuador, [Galapagos Islands] Ecuador, [Galapagos Islands] Peru
• SOUTHERN SOUTH AMERICA: Argentina, Chile, Paraguay, Uruguay

References:

1. Acevedo-Rodríguez, P. & M. T. Strong Catalogue of seed plants of the West Indies. Smithsonian Contr. Bot. 98. 2012 (L West Indies)
2. Aldén, B., S. Ryman, & M. Hjertson Svensk Kulturväxtdatabas, SKUD (Swedish Cultivated and Utility Plants Database; online resource on www.skud.info). 2012 (Kulturvaxtdatabas)
3. Brako, L. & J. L. Zarucchi Catalogue of the flowering plants and gymnosperms of Peru. Monogr. Syst. Bot. Missouri Bot. Gard. 45. 1993 (L Peru)
4. Erhardt, W. et al. Der große Zander: Enzyklopädie der Pflanzennamen. 2008 (Zander Ency)
5. Euro+Med Editorial Committee Euro+Med Plantbase: the information resource for Euro-Mediterranean plant diversity (on-line resource). (EuroMed Plantbase)
6. Faridah Hanum, I. & L. J. G. van der Maesen, eds. 1997. Auxiliary plants (Pl Res SEAs) 11:187-190.
7. Forzza, R. C. et al., coord. Lista de espécies da flora do Brasil (on-line resource). (L Brasil Online)
8. Funk, V. et al. Checklist of the plants of the Guiana Shield (Venezuela: Amazonas, Bolivar, Delta Amacuro; Guyana, Surinam, French Guiana). Contr. U.S. Natl. Herb. 55:1-584. 2007 (L Guiana Shield)
9. Groth, D. 2005. pers. comm. (pers. comm.)
10. Henderson, L. Alien weeds and invasive plants: a complete guide to declared weeds and invaders in South Africa. Plant Protection Research Institute, Handbook 12. 2001 (Weeds SAfr 2001)
11. Hnatiuk, R. J. Census of Australian vascular plants. Australian Flora and Fauna Series No. 11. (L Aust)
12. Hokche, O. et al. Nuevo catálogo de la flora vascular de Venezola. (L Venez ed2)
13. Institute of Pacific Islands Forestry Pacific Island Ecosystems at Risk (PIER): plant threats to Pacific ecosystems (on-line resource). (Pacif I Ecosyst Risk)
14. Instituto de Botánica Darwinion Flora del Conosur. Catálogo de las plantas vasculares. (F ConoSur)
15. Integrated Botanical Information System (IBIS) Australian plant common name database (on-line resource). (Aust Pl Common Names)
16. Iwatsuki, K. et al. Flora of Japan. 1993- (F Japan)
17. Jørgensen, P. M. & S. León-Yánez, eds. Catalogue of the vascular plants of Ecuador. Monogr. Syst. Bot. Missouri Bot. Gard. 75. 1999 (L Ecuador)
18. Kellerman, T. S. et al. Plant poisonings and mycotoxicoses of livestock in Southern Africa. 1988 (Kellerman et al.)
19. Lee, Y. N. Flora of Korea. (F Korea)
20. McGuffin, M., J. T. Kartesz, A. Y. Leung, & A. O. Tucker Herbs of commerce, ed. 2. 2000 (Herbs Commerce ed2)
21. Ohwi, J. Flora of Japan (Engl. ed.). (F JapanOhwi)
22. Pennington, T. D. 1981. Meliaceae Fl. Neotrop. Monogr. 28:24.
23. Rehm, S. Multilingual dictionary of agronomic plants. 1994 (Dict Rehm)
24. Smith, R. J. Botanical beads of the world (on-line resource). (Bot Beads World)
25. Standley, P. C. & J. A. Steyermark Flora of Guatemala. 1946-1976 (F Guat)
26. Steenis, C. G. G. J. van, ed. Flora malesiana. 1948- (F Males)
27. Stevens, W. D. et al., eds. Flora de Nicaragua. Monogr. Syst. Bot. Missouri Bot. Gard. 85(1-3). (F Nicaragua)
28. Weber, E. Invasive plant species of the world: a reference guide to environmental weeds. 2003 (Invasive Pl Spec)
29. Wu Zheng-yi & P. H. Raven et al., eds. Flora of China (English edition). 1994- (F ChinaEng)

Cite as: USDA, Agricultural Research Service, National Plant Germplasm System. 2026. Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN-Taxonomy).
National Germplasm Resources Laboratory, Beltsville, Maryland. URL: http://germoplasma.iniaf.gob.bo/gringlobal/taxonomydetail.aspx?id=23936. Accessed 7 junio 2026.