Clusia rosea Jacq., Clusiaceae

Click on an image for links to BIGGER PICTURES

Present on Pacific Islands?  yes

Threat only at high elevations?  no

Risk assessment results:  Evaluate risk, score: 5 (Go to the risk assessment)

Common name(s): [more details]

English: autograph tree, copey, pitch apple, Scotch attorney, signature tree

Habit:  tree

Description:  "Terrestrial or epiphytic trees or shrubs 7-20 m tall, bark smooth.  Leaves thick and coriaceous, obovate, 8-16 cm long, 3.5-14 cm wide, lateral veins arising at an 45 degree angle or less from midrib, petioles 1-2 cm long with a margined pit on upper side near base.  Flowers 1-3 in axillary or pseudoterminal cymes, bracteoles 2-4; sepals 4-6, 1-2 cm long, persistent; petals 6-8, white or pink, broadly obovate to suborbicular, 3-4 cm long; staminate flowers with stamens in several whorls, connate at base into a ring, inner stamens connate into a solid resinous mass; pistillate flowers with staminodes connate into a cup, ovary globose, stigmas 6-9, sessile.  Capsules greenish brown, somewhat fleshy, globose, 5-8 cm in diameter.  Seeds with a dark red, thin, fleshy aril"  (Wagner et al., 1999; p. 542).

Habitat/ecology:  Usually begins life on another plant.  After the roots reach the ground, the copey begins to strangle its host and eventually replaces it, like some species of Ficus  (Neal, 1965; p. 586). Dry and moist forests and open areas at elevations below 3000 feet in Hawai‘i.  "[C]ultivated as an ornamental, now being spread by birds, which eat the seeds, and becoming naturalized in low elevation, disturbed areas" (Wagner et al., 1999; p. 542).

Propagation:  Seeds spread by birds.

Native range:  West Indies and Florida (US) (Wagner et al., 1999; p. 542).

Presence:

Pacific
Country/Terr./St. & Island group	Location	Cited status & Cited as invasive & Cited as cultivated & Cited as aboriginal introduction?	Reference & Comments
Guam Guam Island	Guam Island	introduced	Raulerson, L. (2006) (p. 48)
State of Hawaii Hawaiian Islands	Hawai‘i (Big) Island	introduced invasive cultivated	Wagner, Warren L./Herbst, Derral R./Sohmer, S. H. (1999) (pp. 542-543)
State of Hawaii Hawaiian Islands	Kaua‘i Island	introduced invasive cultivated	Wagner, Warren L./Herbst, Derral R./Sohmer, S. H. (1999) (pp. 542-543)
State of Hawaii Hawaiian Islands	Maui Island	introduced invasive cultivated	Oppenheimer, Hank L./Bartlett, R. T. (2000) (pp. 3-4) Vouchers cited: (West Maui) Oppenheimer H89914 (BISH), Oppenheimer H89921 (BISH), Oppenheimer H89935 (BISH), Oppenheimer H99901 (BISH); (East Maui) Oppenheimer H89933 (BISH)
State of Hawaii Hawaiian Islands	Moloka‘i Island	introduced invasive cultivated	Wydong, Michael/Hughes, Guy/Wood, K. R. (2007) (pp. 3-4) Voucher cited: Wysong 759 (BISH)
State of Hawaii Hawaiian Islands	O‘ahu Island	introduced invasive cultivated	Wagner, Warren L./Herbst, Derral R./Sohmer, S. H. (1999) (pp. 542-543)
State of Hawaii Hawaiian Islands	O‘ahu Island	introduced invasive cultivated	Daehler, Curtis C./Baker, Raymond F. (2006) (p. 12) Vouchers cited: Daehler 1101 (BISH), Daehler 1102 (HAW)
Marshall Islands Ratak Chain	Majuro (Mãjro) Atoll	introduced cultivated	Vander Velde, Nancy (2003) (p. 82)

Comments:  A problem species in Florida.

Additional information:  Report (PDF format) from US Geological Survey, Biological Resources Division, Haleakala Field Station, Hawaii "Plants of Hawaii".
Information from the book "Weeds of Hawaii‘s Pastures and Natural Areas; An Identification and Management Guide" (Motooka et al., 2003). (PDF format).

Additional online information about Clusia rosea is available from the Hawaiian Ecosystems at Risk project (HEAR).

Taxonomic information about Clusia rosea may be available from the Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN).

References:

Daehler, Curtis C./Baker, Raymond F. 2006. New records of naturalized and naturalizing plants around Lyon Arboretum, Mānoa Valley, O‘ahu. In: Evenhuis, Neal L. and Eldredge, Lucias G., eds. Records of the Hawaii Biological Survey for 2004-2005. Part 1: Articles. Bishop Museum Occasional Papers 87:3-18.

Motooka, Philip/Castro, Luisa/Nelson, Duane/ Nagai, Guy/Ching, Lincoln. 2003. Weeds of Hawaii‘s Pastures and Natural Areas; An Identification and Management Guide. College of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resources, University of Hawaii at Manoa. 184 pp.

Neal, Marie C. 1965. In Gardens of Hawaii. Bernice P. Bishop Museum Special Publication 50, Bishop Museum Press. 924 pp.

Oppenheimer, Hank L./Bartlett, R. T. 2000. New plant records from Maui, O‘ahu, and the Hawai‘i Islands. In: Evenhuis, Neal L. and Eldredge, Lucius G., eds. Records of the Hawaii Biological Survey for 1999. Part 2: Notes. Bishop Museum Occasional Papers. 64:1-10.

Raulerson, L. 2006. Checklist of Plants of the Mariana Islands. University of Guam Herbarium Contribution 40:1-69. .

Vander Velde, Nancy. 2003. The vascular plants of Majuro Atoll, Republic of the Marshall Islands. Smithsonian Institution, Atoll Research Bulletin No. 503:1-141.

Wagner, Warren L./Herbst, Derral R./Sohmer, S. H. 1999. Manual of the flowering plants of Hawaii. Revised edition. Bernice P. Bishop Museum special publication. University of Hawai‘i Press/Bishop Museum Press, Honolulu. 1919 pp. (two volumes).

Wydong, Michael/Hughes, Guy/Wood, K. R. 2007. New Hawaiian plant records for the island of Moloka‘i. In: Evenhuis, Neal L. and Eldredge, Lucias G., eds. Records of the Hawaii Biological Survey for 2006. Part 2: Notes. Bishop Museum Occasional Papers 96:1-8.