Rosewood (Tipuana tipu)
Also known as:
tipuana
Rosewood is an ornamental tree up to 15 m tall with yellow or orange pea flowers. It outcompetes native plants and the roots can damage infrastructure.
Profile
How does this weed affect you?
Rosewood is a very hardy, fast-growing tree that:
- outcompetes native plants
- increases fuel load and changes fire regimes
- in urban settings, the roots can block drains and lift concrete and bitumen.
What does it look like?
Rosewood is a deciduous tree up to 15 m tall. It has a single main trunk, and the branches form a distinct canopy which is often wider than the height of the tree.
Leaves:
Leaves are divided into 9–29 leaflets that are:
- 2.5-7 cm long, and up to 2.3 cm wide
- oval to oblong shaped
- usually notched at the tip but sometimes rounded
- in alternate pairs with a single leaflet at the end.
Flowers are:
- bright yellow or orange with reddish markings on the base of the largest petal
- pealike with 5 petals, the upper petal is the largest, 2 side petals are separate and the lower 2 petals are fused together
- up to 2 cm wide
- in clusters in the leaf forks
- mostly present in summer.
Fruit are:
- distinctive sometimes referred to as a ‘helicopter’, due to its spinning propeller-like action as it falls
- winged, with a swollen round base, which contains one to three seeds
- up to 7 cm long
- green ripening to light brown.
Roots are:
- extensive
- often close to the surface.
Stems:
Trunks have rough deeply grooved bark and young branches often droop.
Similar looking plants
Rosewood looks like black locust, (Robinia pseudoacacia) when not in flower, but black locust flowers are white, and the fruits are long and thin.
Where is it found?
Rosewood has naturalised in the northeast of the North Coast region.
It is native to southern Bolivia, northern Argentina, southern Brazil, Uruguay and Paraguay. Trees were planted in Australia in the 1970s in suburban gardens and streets. It has been planted around the world as an ornamental street tree and garden plant. an ornamental street tree,a shade tree, a source of ‘rosewood’ timber and, in some circumstances, fodder for stock.
What type of environment does it grow in?
Rosewood grows in subtropical to semi-arid climates with year round warm temperatures. It can survive frosts and temperatures as low as -6.5ºC. It is drought resistant and salt tolerant. Plants cannot survive in soil with very low phosphorus levels.
Trees have naturalised in:
- disturbed sites such as roadsides and creekbanks
- woodlands
- open grassland areas where grazing is absent.
How does it spread?
The single greatest reason for rosewood’s spread is the propagation and planting of the tree by householders and pastoralists. It has a prolific seeding capability (up to 10,000 seeds per plant), coupled with wind and water dispersal mechanisms (when near waterways), allows it to establish widely. The winged seed may travel a substantial distance from the tree with its helicopter style movement, and the decomposed seed then spirals down into the ground to become established. In pastoral areas cattle will eat new growth and thus kill rosewood seedlings. It is not known if passage through the cattle gut assists germination, as it does in other species. The fast growth of the seedling allows it to establish quickly, up to 4 m in its first two years of growth. Rosewood does not spread vegetatively.
Acknowledgements
CRC for Australian Weed Management: Trevor Armstrong (Qld DNRM), Sandy Robertson (Gatton Shire Council, Qld), Rachel McFadyen (Weeds CRC), Shane Campbell (Qld DNRM / Weeds CRC).
2020 Plain language review by Stephanie Alt.
2025 edition by Wendy Gibney edited by Birgitte Verbeek.
More information
Control
Successful weed control relies on follow up after the initial efforts. This means looking for and killing regrowth or new seedlings. Using a combination of control methods is usually more successful.
Pasture management
Cattle eat new growth and kill rosewood seedlings
Chemical control
Basal barking
Apply herbicide mixed with diesel to cover the lower stem, all the way around.
Cut stump method
Cut trunks or stems and apply herbicide to the stump within 15 seconds.
Stem injection
Drill or make cuts into the sapwood all the way around the tree. Fill with herbicide within 15 seconds.
Herbicide options
WARNING - ALWAYS READ THE LABEL
Users of agricultural or veterinary chemical products must always read the label and any permit, before using the product, and strictly comply with the directions on the label and the conditions of any permit. Users are not absolved from compliance with the directions on the label or the conditions of the permit by reason of any statement made or not made in this information. To view permits or product labels go to the Australian Pesticides and Veterinary Medicines Authority website www.apvma.gov.au
Users of agricultural or veterinary chemical products must always read the label and any permit, before using the product, and strictly comply with the directions on the label and the conditions of any permit. Users are not absolved from compliance with the directions on the label or the conditions of the permit by reason of any statement made or not made in this information. To view permits or product labels go to the Australian Pesticides and Veterinary Medicines Authority website www.apvma.gov.au
See Using herbicides for more information.
PERMIT 9907 Expires 31/03/2030
Fluroxypyr 200 g/L
(Various products)
Rate: 35 mL per L diesel/kerosene
Comments: Basal bark
Withholding period: Do not graze failed crops and treated pastures or cut for stock feed for 7 days after application. See label for further information.
Herbicide group: 4 (previously group I), Disruptors of plant cell growth (Auxin mimics)
Resistance risk: Moderate
PERMIT 9907 Expires 31/03/2030
Fluroxypyr 333 g/L
(Starane™ Advanced)
Rate: 21 mL per L diesel/kerosene
Comments: Basal bark
Withholding period: Do not graze failed crops and treated pastures or cut for stock food for 7 days after application. See label for more information.
Herbicide group: 4 (previously group I), Disruptors of plant cell growth (Auxin mimics)
Resistance risk: Moderate
PERMIT 9907 Expires 31/03/2030
Glyphosate 360 g/L
(Various products)
Rate: One part product to 1.5 parts water
Comments: Cut stump or stem injection
Withholding period: Nil.
Herbicide group: 9 (previously group M), Inhibition of 5-enolpyruvyl shikimate-3 phosphate synthase (EPSP inhibition)
Resistance risk: Moderate
PERMIT 9907 Expires 31/03/2030
Glyphosate 360 g/L
with Metsulfuron-methyl 600 g/kg (Various products)
Rate: 1:1.5 glyphosate to water + 1 g metsulfuron to 1 L water
Comments: Stem injection
Withholding period: Nil.
Herbicide group: 9 (previously group M), Inhibition of 5-enolpyruvyl shikimate-3 phosphate synthase (EPSP inhibition)
Resistance risk: Moderate
Biosecurity duty
The content provided here is for information purposes only and is taken from the NSW Biosecurity Act 2015 and its subordinate legislation, and the Regional Strategic Weed Management Plans (published by each Local Land Services region in NSW). It describes the state and regional priorities for weeds in New South Wales, Australia.
| Area | Duty |
|---|---|
| All of NSW | General Biosecurity Duty All pest plants are regulated with a general biosecurity duty to prevent, eliminate or minimise any biosecurity risk they may pose. Any person who deals with any plant, who knows (or ought to know) of any biosecurity risk, has a duty to ensure the risk is prevented, eliminated or minimised, so far as is reasonably practicable. |
For technical advice and assistance with identification please contact your local council weeds officer.
Reviewed 2025
