Macaranga mappa – Bingabing

Macaranga mappa - Bingabing, Pengua (flowers)

Macaranga mappa - Bingabing, Pengua (flowers)

Macaranga mappa - Bingabing, Pengua

Plant Name

Scientific Name: Macaranga mappa

Common Names: Bingabing, Pengua

Plant Characteristics

Duration: Perennial, Evergreen

Growth Habit: Tree

Hawaii Native Status: Introduced. This naturalized ornamental tree is native to the Philippines.

Flower Color: Pink, Pinkish red

Height: Up to 33 feet (10 m) tall, but usually less

Description: The small, petalless flowers are hidden below the leaves at the top of the plant. The male flowers are in branched panicles, while the female flowers are in dense clusters. The female flowers are followed by 2 to 3-celled, spiny seed capsules. The huge, umbrella-like leaves have long stalks and are green with lighter veins, orbicular-ovate to broadly ovate in shape, peltate (the leaf stalk is attached near the center of the leaf), and up to 2 feet (61 cm) wide. The trees have a columnar growth form.

Bingabing, as it is more commonly know here in Hawaii, grows in low elevation, mesic (moderately wet) to wet, disturbed areas.

The similar Parasol Leaf Tree (Macaranga tanarius) has smaller leaves and greenish flowers.

Special Characteristics

Poisonous – The plants are poisonous.

Classification

Kingdom: Plantae – Plants
Subkingdom: Tracheobionta – Vascular plants
Superdivision: Spermatophyta – Seed plants
Division: Magnoliophyta – Flowering plants
Class: Magnoliopsida – Dicotyledons
Subclass: Rosidae
Order: Euphorbiales
Family: Euphorbiaceae – Spurge family
Genus: Macaranga Thouars – macaranga
Species: Macaranga mappa (L.) Müll. Arg. – pengua

More About This Plant

Hawaii County Distribution Map