Cordia dichotoma G.Forst., Boraginaceae

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Present on Pacific Islands?  yes

Primarily a threat at high elevations?  no

Common name(s): [more details]

Chinese: po bu mu

English: clammy cherry, fragrant manjack, Indian cherry, sebesten, sebesten plum

Habit:  tree

Description:  "A tree to 10 m high or more; leaves ovate to oblong acute to acuminate, acute to subcordate at base, glabrous or sparsely puberulent, up to 20 cm long by 10 cm wide, shallow-toothed in distal part, or repand, or entire; petioles 1-5 cm long; flowers small, whitish, about 8 mm long, corolla 4-6-lobed; calyx truncate; fruit ellipsoid, 1.5-2 cm long, with a thin creamy or pink skin and pulp; pyrene 1-seeded" (Stone, 1970; p. 498).

Habitat/ecology:  (no habitat/ecology info known by PIER)

Propagation:  Seed, probably spread by birds.

Native range:  Malaysia-Polynesia (Stone, 1970; p. 498).  "Northern India to Southeast Asia, southern China, and Taiwan, as well as in northeastern Australia and on the island of New Caledonia"  (Staples & Herbst, 2005; p. 198).

Presence:

Pacific
Country/Terr./St. & Island group	Location	Cited status & Cited as invasive & Cited as cultivated & Cited as aboriginal introduction?	Reference & Comments
Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (US) Northern Mariana Islands	Saipan Island	native	Raulerson, L. (2006) (p. 58)
French Polynesia Marquesas Islands	Hatuta'a (Hatutu) Island	introduced cultivated	Florence, J./Chevillotte, H./Ollier, C./Meyer, J.-Y. (2011) Voucher cited: J.-C. Thibault 1103 (PAP) Cultivée
French Polynesia Marquesas Islands	Nuku Hiva (Nukahiva) Island	introduced cultivated	Lorence, David H./Wagner, Warren L. (2008)
French Polynesia Marquesas Islands	Nuku Hiva (Nukahiva) Island	introduced cultivated	Florence, J./Chevillotte, H./Ollier, C./Meyer, J.-Y. (2011) Cultivée
Guam Guam Island	Guam Island	introduced cultivated	Stone, Benjamin C. (1970) (p. 498)
Guam Guam Island	Guam Island	introduced	Fosberg, F. R./Sachet, Marie-Hélène/Oliver, Royce (1979) (p. 229)
State of Hawaii Hawaiian Islands	O‘ahu Island	introduced invasive cultivated	Herbarium Pacificum Staff (1996) (p. 3) Voucher cited: E. Funk s.n. (BISH) Naturalized
New Caledonia New Caledonia	New Caledonia Islands	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2011)
Papua New Guinea Papua New Guinea (eastern New Guinea Island)	Papua New Guinea (eastern New Guinea Island)	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2011)

Pacific Rim
Country/Terr./St. & Island group	Location	Cited status & Cited as invasive & Cited as cultivated & Cited as aboriginal introduction?	Reference & Comments
Australia Australia (continental)	Northern Territory	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2011)
Australia Australia (continental)	Queensland	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2011)
Cambodia Cambodia	Cambodia (Kingdom of)	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2011)
China China	China (People's Republic of)	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2011)
China China	Hong Kong	native	Wu, Te-lin (2001) (p. 227) In forests.
Indonesia Indonesia	Indonesia (Republic of)	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2011)
Japan Ryukyu Islands	Ryukyu Islands	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2011)
Malaysia Malaysia	Malaysia (country of)	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2011)
Singapore Singapore	Singapore (Republic of)	native	Chong, Kwek Yan/Tan, Hugh T. W./Corlett, Richard T. (2009) (p. 28) Critically endangered
Taiwan Taiwan	Taiwan Island	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2011)
Thailand Thailand	Thailand (Kingdom of)	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2011)
Vietnam Vietnam	Vietnam (Socialist Republic of)	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2011)

Indian Ocean
Country/Terr./St. & Island group	Location	Cited status & Cited as invasive & Cited as cultivated & Cited as aboriginal introduction?	Reference & Comments
Mauritius Mautitius Islands (Mauritius and Rodrigues)	Mauritius Island	introduced invasive	Kueffer, C./Mauremootoo, J. (2004) (pp. 7, 8)

Comments:  Reported as possibly an invasive plant in the Hawaiian Islands per Staples et al., 2000.

Additional information:
Information from the World Agroforestry Centre's AgroForestryTree Database.

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

Information about Cordia dichotoma as a weed (worldwide references) may be available from the Global Compendium of Weeds (GCW).

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

References:

Chong, Kwek Yan/Tan, Hugh T. W./Corlett, Richard T. 2009. A checklist of the total vascular plant flora of Singapore: native, naturalised and cultivated species. Raffles Museum of Biodiversity Research, National University of Singapore. 273 pp.

Florence, J./Chevillotte, H./Ollier, C./Meyer, J.-Y. 2011. Base de données botaniques Nadeaud de l'Herbier de la Polynésie Française (PAP). (online resource).

Fosberg, F. R./Sachet, Marie-Hélène/Oliver, Royce. 1979. A geographical checklist of the Micronesian dicotyledonae. Micronesica 15:1-295.

Herbarium Pacificum Staff. 1996. New Hawaiian pest plant records for 1995. In: Evenhuis, Neal L. and Miller, Scott, E., eds. Records of the Hawaii Biological Survey for 1995. Part 2: Notes. Bishop Museum Occasional Papers. 46:3-8.

Kueffer, C./Mauremootoo, J. 2004. Case studies on the status of invasive woody plant species in the western Indian Ocean. 3. Mauritius (islands of Mauritius and Rodrigues). Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, Forestry Department, Forest Resources Division, Forest Resources Development Service, Working Paper FBS/4-3E. 35 pp.

Lorence, David H./Wagner, Warren L. 2008. Flora of the Marquesas Islands. National Tropical Botanical Garden and the Smithsonian Institution. Online database.

Raulerson, L. 2006. Checklist of Plants of the Mariana Islands. University of Guam Herbarium Contribution 37:1-69. .

Staples, George W./Herbst, Derral R. 2005. A tropical garden flora: plants cultivated in the Hawaiian Islands and other tropical places. Bishop Museum Press, Honolulu. 908 pp.

Staples, George W./Herbst, Derral/Imada, Clyde T. 2000. Survey of invasive or potentially invasive cultivated plants in Hawai‘i. Bishop Museum Occasional Papers No. 65. 35 pp.

Stone, Benjamin C. 1970. The flora of Guam. Micronesica 6:1-659.

U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. 2011. National Genetic Resources Program. Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN). Online searchable database.

U.S. Dept. Agr., Nat. Res. Cons. Serv. 2011. The PLANTS Database. National Plant Data Center, Baton Rouge, LA 70874-4490 USA.

Wu, Te-lin. 2001. Check List of Hong Kong Plants. Hong Kong Herbarium and the South China Institute of Botany. Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department Bulletin 1 (revised). 384 pp.

Zhengyi, Wu/Raven, Peter H./Deyuan, Hong. 2011. Flora of China (online resource).