NEW JERSEY INVASIVE SPECIES STRIKE TEAM www.njisst.org Japanese angelica tree (Aralia elata) Also called: Japanese aralia .Japanese angelica Family name: Aralia (Araliaceae) flowers overtopped by foliage Native range: Asia
NJ Status: Emerging Stage 3 – Common (may be regionally abundant). It is highly threatening to natural communities. Eradicate newly emerging occurrences only. Fruit: • Small purple to black berries in circular Viburnum plicatum cultivar with globe-like General description: formations flower clusters. • Deciduous tree or • Appearing August-September; ripening from shrub, to 40’ tall September -October • Colonial, thicket forming • Irregular form— spreading,multi- or single-stemmed • Bark covered in sharp prickles
Leaves: • Alternate, 2 or 3 times pinnately compound Habitat: • Toothed or nearly • Forest, shrubland, meadow, and landscaping Immature toothless with fruits downy hairs Commercial availability: Yes below • Leaflets variable, Look-alikes: Devil’s walking 2”-4.75” long Devil’s Walking Stick (Aralia spinosa) stick flowers overtopping foliage • Large, entire leaf 2’-4’ • Small native tree or shrub feet long • Inflorescence longer, 3’- • Leaves turn yellow to 3.5’ with a distinct central reddish purple in fall stalk • Spines at leaf axils • Typically taller than wide, • Main leaf veins extend usually above foliage to leaf edge • Main leaf veins branch and • Leaflet typically with diminish at leaf margin sessile or with very • Leaflets variable, 2”-2.75” short petiole (stem) long • Typically with short, but distinct petiole • Typically southern, extends into PA, DE
Flowers: Toothache tree, common prickly ash (Zanthoxylum • Whitish to cream colored americanum) • Borne in large, inflorescence 12”-24” long • Small native tree or shrub • Clusters multi-stemmed, lacking a central axis • Prickles paired along stem • Often wider than tall, with flower base • Compound leaves surrounded or overtopped by foliage • Blooms in spring, before leaf out • Blooms late July-August
Toothache tree fruit and once-compound leaves