Flacourtia jangomas (Lour.) Raeuschel, Salicaceae

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Present on Pacific Islands?  yes

Primarily a threat at high elevations?  no

Other Latin names:  Flacourtia cataphracta Roxb. ex Willd.

Common name(s): [more details]

Chinese: yun nan ci li mu

English: Indian cherry, Indian plum, coffee plum, greater krekup, rukam, runeala plum

French: prune malgache, prunier d'Inde

Maori (Cook Islands): venevene pāma

Niuean: palamu

Spanish: ciruela forastera

Habit:  tree

Description:  "Small, deciduous tree, 6-10 (-14) m; trunk and branches commonly thornless in old trees; ± densely beset with simple or branched, woody thorns when younger; bark light-brown to copper-red or pinkish-buff, flaky into thin lamels; young branches white-dotted by numerous suborbicular lenticels, puberulous or mostly glabrous.  Leaves ± narrow-ovate to ovate-oblong, rarely ovate-lanceolate, long-obtuse-acuminate, broadly cuneate to rounded at the base, membranous to thinly chartaceous (pinkish or light cinnamon-brown when young in a fresh state), glabrous, shining above, mostly dull beneath, subserrate-crenate, (5-) 7-10 (-11) by (2-) 3-4 (-5.5) cm; petiole puberulous or glabrescent, 6-8 mm.  Racemes axillary, subcorymbose, glabrous, few-flowered, the male 1.5-3, the female 1-1.5 cm long.  Flowers fragrant of honey, before or with the young foliage.  Pedicels very slender, 0.5-1 (-1.5) cm.  Sepals 4 (-5), ovate, obtuse, greenish, ± pubescent on both sides, 2 mm.  Disk fleshy, entire or slightly lobed, white or yellow (orange). Male flowers: filaments glabrous.  Female flowers: Ovary first flask-shaped, soon subglobular, with 4-6 styles connate into a distinct, 1 mm high column, not or slightly free at their apices, each bearing a ± dilatate, bilobed, recurved stigma.  Fruit subglobose, 1.5-2.5 cm in diameter, dull-brownish red or purple, then blackish, with greenish-yellow pulp, enclosing 4-5 (-10) flat seeds, tipped with the single, short style-column with 4-6 minute stigma-points" (van Steenis, 1954; pp. 72-73).

Habitat/ecology:  "Cultivated in lowland countries up to 600 m as a fruit tree" (van Steenis, 1954; pp. 72-73).

Propagation:  Seed

Native range:  Possibly indigenous in the area of Assam and Burma (Smith, 1981; p. 639). "Not known in wild state, but possibly originated in India" (van Steenis, 1954; pp. 72-73).

Presence:

Pacific
Country/Terr./St. & Island group	Location	Cited status & Cited as invasive & Cited as cultivated & Cited as aboriginal introduction?	Reference & Comments
American Samoa Manu‘a Islands	Ta‘u Island		National Tropical Botanical Garden (U.S.A. Hawaii. Kalaheo.) (1990) (voucher ID: PTBG 9114) Taxon name on voucher: Flacourtia jangomas
Cook Islands Southern Cook Islands	Mangaia Island		McCormack, Gerald (2013)
Cook Islands Southern Cook Islands	Ma‘uke Island		McCormack, Gerald (2013)
Cook Islands Southern Cook Islands	Rarotonga Island		McCormack, Gerald (2013)
Cook Islands Southern Cook Islands	Rarotonga Island		Bishop Museum (Honolulu) (1991) (voucher ID: BISH 665721) Taxon name on voucher: Flacourtia jangomas (Lour.) Raeuschel
Cook Islands Southern Cook Islands	Rarotonga Island		Bishop Museum (Honolulu) (1991) (voucher ID: BISH 665722) Taxon name on voucher: Flacourtia jangomas (Lour.) Raeuschel
Federated States of Micronesia Pohnpei Islands	Pohnpei Island	introduced cultivated	Herrera, Katherine/Lorence, David H./Flynn, Timothy/Balick, Michael J. (2010) (p. 133)
Fiji Fiji Islands	Fiji Islands	introduced cultivated	Smith, Albert C. (1981) (p. 639)
French Polynesia Society Islands	Tahiti Island		National Tropical Botanical Garden (U.S.A. Hawaii. Kalaheo.) (1982) (voucher ID: PTBG 26437) Taxon name on voucher: Flacourtia jangomas
State of Hawaii Hawaiian Islands	Hawai‘i (Big) Island	introduced cultivated	Imada, Clyde T./Staples, George W./Herbst, Derral R. (2013) (p. Voucher specimen) Voucher cited: Bryan s.n. (BISH 51985)
State of Hawaii Hawaiian Islands	Maui Island	introduced cultivated	Imada, Clyde T./Staples, George W./Herbst, Derral R. (2013) (p. Voucher specimens) Vouchers cited: Maehler 2 (BISH 50499), Yamada s.n. (BISH 51984)
State of Hawaii Hawaiian Islands	O‘ahu Island	introduced cultivated	Imada, Clyde T./Staples, George W./Herbst, Derral R. (2013) (p. Voucher specimens) Voucher cited: MacDaniels 425 (BISH 51983)
New Caledonia New Caledonia Archipelago	Île Grande Terre	introduced invasive cultivated	MacKee, H. S. (1994) (p. 54) Vouchers cited: MacKee 15308, MacKee 42773, MacKee 42987, Hofman in MacKee 44264 Spontané
Niue Niue	Niue Island	introduced cultivated	Sykes, W. R. (1970) (pp. 96-98) Erroneously as Xylosma samoense in Sykes (Smith, 1981). Vouchers cited: CHR 168845, CHR 170463, CHR 168846

Pacific Rim
Country/Terr./St. & Island group	Location	Cited status & Cited as invasive & Cited as cultivated & Cited as aboriginal introduction?	Reference & Comments
China China	China (People's Republic of)	introduced invasive cultivated	Zhengyi, Wu/Raven, Peter H./Deyuan, Hong (2013) Mountain rain forests, evergreen broad-leaved forests; 700-800 m. W. Guangxi, S. Hainan, S. Yunnan.
Singapore Singapore	Singapore (Republic of)	introduced invasive	Chong, Kwek Yan/Tan, Hugh T. W./Corlett, Richard T. (2009) (p. 43) Naturalised

Indian Ocean
Country/Terr./St. & Island group	Location	Cited status & Cited as invasive & Cited as cultivated & Cited as aboriginal introduction?	Reference & Comments
La Réunion (France) La Réunion Island	La Réunion Island	introduced invasive cultivated	Lavergne, Christophe (2006) "Cultivé/naturalisé"
Mauritius Mautitius Islands (Mauritius and Rodrigues)	Mauritius Island	introduced invasive	Kueffer, C./Mauremootoo, J. (2004) (pp. 7, 8)
Seychelles Seychelles Islands	Seychelles Islands	introduced	Invasive Species Specialist Group (2017)

Comments:  Flacourtia jangomas (Lour.) Rauschel is reported by Cronk and Fuller (1995; p. 241) to be a problem species in the Cook Islands.

See also Flacourtia indica and Flacourtia rukam.

Control:  If you know of control methods for Flacourtia jangomas, please let us know.