Chinese celtis

How to identify a Chinese celtis

Chinese celtis is a large, spreading tree with smooth, silver-grey bark. Its glossy, dark green leaves are oval with a long point, 4 to 10 cm long, with three main veins from the base and blunt teeth mostly on the upper half. It loses its leaves in winter. The tiny greenish spring flowers are easy to miss, but the small round berries that follow ripen from green through orange to red-brown. Chinese elm has narrower, finely toothed leaves and dry winged seeds, while the native silky celtis has smooth-edged leaves and blackish fruit.

Growing a Chinese celtis in Brisbane

Chinese celtis has naturalised through most of South East Queensland. It favours clay soils on creek flats, floodplains and gullies, but also turns up along roadsides, in parks, gardens, rainforest edges and urban bushland. It was widely grown as a garden and street tree, so mature trees are still found in suburban yards, and birds carry their seed into nearby gardens and bushland. As a restricted invasive plant, it should not be planted, and existing trees need managing so they don't spread.

What to watch out for

As a Category 3 restricted invasive plant, Chinese celtis must not be sold, given away or released, and you must manage it on your land. A tree produces thousands of berries, and birds, flying foxes and floodwater carry the seed into creeks and bushland, where dense stands use a lot of water and stop native plants regenerating. It can also produce suckers. Mature trees reach 10 to 20 m or more, so removing a large one near buildings needs care.

• Seedlings. Birds, flying foxes and floodwater spread the seed, and it forms dense stands along creek banks that stop native plants regenerating.
• Size. Brisbane City Council describes it as a large, spreading tree of 10 to 30 m.

Pruning and care

Pull or dig out seedlings while they are small, as they come out far more easily than saplings. Larger trees are generally controlled by cutting them down and treating the stump, or by stem injection, with a registered herbicide used as the Queensland Government fact sheet directs. It can also send up suckers, so keep watching for regrowth afterwards. Felling a large celtis safely, especially over a house or fence, is a job for a professional with the right gear.

• Tree removal
• Stump grinding