NC INVASIVE PLANT COUNCIL
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Trifoliate Orange (Hardy Orange or Flying Dragon)
Poncirus trifoliata
​Still available in the horticultural trade, Trifoliate Orange spreads aggressively once planted, outcompeting the diverse native vegetation valuable to birds and other wildlife.  It is more widespread in the South and Southwest but is becoming more of a problem in North Carolina.  The orange-like fruit produces many seeds, which are widely dispersed by mammals. Once established, it forms impenetrable, many-stemmed, thorny hedges over 6 feet tall, completely dominating the shrub and herb layer.

​​​Trifoliate orange is recognized by leaves-in-threes alternating up the stem and large (3-inch) thorns protruding from the stems. Stems are all dark green except in older parts of the hedge.  Small white flowers and later small orange-like fruits (1-2.5 inches in diameter) appear in the spring. At first, the fruit is green then ripens to a bright yellow. The oranges with their many seeds fall close to the plant, producing multiple stems spreading each year to encompass more of the ground. The fruit is carried away by mammals, which produces new colonies.
Fact Sheet: Trifoliate Orange
Picture
Photo Credits: James H. Miller, USDA Forest Service, Bugwood.org
Picture
Photo Credit: James H. Miller, USDA Forest Service, Bugwood.org
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  • Home
  • About
    • Donate
    • Invasives 101
    • Membership
    • Board of Directors >
      • NC-IPC ByLaws
    • Contact
    • Listserve
  • News
    • Iverson Scholarship
    • Wildland Weeds Magazine
    • Calendar >
      • 2018 Workshop
  • NC Invasive Plants
    • Ailanthus Altissima (Tree-of-Heaven)
    • Elaeagnus umbellata (Autumn Olive)
    • Ficaria verna (Fig Buttercup)
    • Imperata cylindrica (Cogongrass)
    • Ligustrum sinense (Chinese Privet)
    • Ligustrum vulgare (Wild Privet)
    • Lonicera japonica (Japanese Honeysuckle)
    • Microstegium vimineum (Japanese Stilt Grass)
    • Nandina domestica
    • Nymphoides indica (water snowflake)
    • Paulownia tomentosa (Princess Tree)
    • Persicaria perfoliata (Mile-A-Minute Vine)
    • Pueraria montana (Kudzu)
    • Pyrus calleryana (Bradford Pear)
  • Annual Symposiums
    • 2022 Joint Symposium >
      • 2022 Speaker Presentations
    • 2021 Virtual Conference
    • 2019 Joint Symposium >
      • 2019 Presentations
    • 2018 Annual Symposium
    • 2017 Annual Symposium
    • 2016 Annual Symposium >
      • 2016 agenda
    • 2015 Annual Symposium >
      • 2015 Presentations
      • 2015 Agenda
  • Projects
    • Fig Buttercup Project
    • Eno River Hydrilla Project
    • Awareness Week
  • Awards
    • 2015 Student Competition Winners
    • 2015 EIA Award
    • 2014 EIA Award