Lower Risk

Alphitonia excelsa (Red Ash, Soap Tree, Leatherjacket)

Red Ash (Alphitonia excelsa) is a small to medium evergreen tree native to NT, WA, Qld and NSW. It is widely distributed across tropical eucalypt forests and subtropical and temperate rainforests and rainforest margins. The leaves are leathery and smell of sarsaparilla when crushed. It is popular as a shade and street tree, and is useful as a pioneer species in bush regeneration and as a fodder tree. It reproduces via seed. The leaves are food for the caterpillars of several native butterfly species. It has not been recorded as naturalised or invasive outside its native range in Australia.