Brazilian Peppertree:Schinus terebinthifolius. Small tree, to 30 feet, with a short trunk usually hidden by dense, intertwining branches. The leaves have a reddish, sometimes winged midrib. Leaves have 3-13 finely toothed leaflets which are 1-2 inches long. Leaves smell of turpentine when crushed. Flowers are white. The fruits are in clusters, glossy, green and juicy at first, becoming bright red. The red skin dries to become a papery shell surrounding the seed.

Chinaberry Tree:Melia azedarach. Introduced from Asia in the mid-1800s as an ornamental tree. Dark green leaves are doubly compound, alternate, deciduous, and display bright yellow fall colors. Fruit is spherical, about ½" in diameter, yellow, persists on the tree in winter and is poisonous.

Tree-of-Heaven:Ailanthus altissima. Originally from China; rapid growing tree to 80 feet tall; alternate, compound leaves, 10-40 leaflets with smooth margins on 1- to 3-foot stalks. Large terminal clusters of small yellowish-green flowers yield wing-shaped fruit on female trees. Forms thickets and dense stands.

Salt cedar:Tamarix spp. Salt cedars are characterized by slender branches and gray-green foliage. The bark of young branches is smooth and reddish-brown. As the plants age, the bark becomes brownish-purple, ridged and furrowed. Leaves are scale-like, about 1/16-inch-long and overlap each other along the stem. They are often encrusted with salt secretions. From March to September, large numbers of pink to white flowers appear in dense masses on 2-inch long spikes at branch tips.

 Popinac / Leadtree:Leucaena leucocephala. Exists as a shrub or small tree; leaves are up to 10 inches long with 11 - 17 pairs of leaflets. Leaflets are small and exist opposite each other. Lead tree forms dense monospecific thickets. Does best in wet conditions but is resistant to drought once established. River banks, cultivated areas, and pastures are prone to invasion.

Chinese Privet:Ligustrum sinense (and others). Native to China and Europe and brought to the U.S. by the mid-1800s as ornamentals. Mostly evergreen, thicket-forming shrub having opposite, elliptical leaves with smooth margins. Fragrant, white flowers form in spring and produce clusters of dark purple berries.

 Japanese Honeysuckle:Lonicera japonica. Introduced from Japan in the early 1800s for erosion control and as an ornamental. Semi evergreen, woody vine with simple, opposite leaves. Produces white to yellow (sometimes pink) fragrant flowers from April through September.

Mimosa:Albizia julibrissin. Brought from Asia in 1745 as an ornamental. Deciduous tree with alternate, doubly compound leaves and showy, fragrant pink blossoms. Leguminous seedpods persist during winter. Leaves resemble those of honey locust.

Camphor Tree:Cinnamomum camphora. Broad-leaved evergreen that is often twice as wide as it is tall. Grows to 50- 100 feet tall. A pungent camphor odor is produced when leaves are crushed. Densely covered with shiny, oval and elliptical leaves, up to 5 inches long, that are chalky on underside. Young leaves are reddish. In the spring, the tree grows 3-inch spikes of very small yellowish-white flowers, which are soon replaced by black pea-sized berries. Seedlings may be abundant on ground at base of parent trees.

Chinese Wisteria:Wisteria sinensis (and others). Introduced from Asia in the early 1800s as an ornamental. Deciduous, high-climbing woody vine with alternate, compound leaves up to 16 inches long. Large, fragrant, showy lavender to purple flowers in spring. Seed pod is typical of legumes.