Flacourtia indica (N.L.Burman) Merr., Flacourtiaceae

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Present on Pacific Islands?  yes

Threat only at high elevations?  no

Other Latin names:  Flacourtia ramontchii L'Hér.

Common name(s): [more details]

English: batoko plum, governor's plum, Indian plum, Madagascar plum, ramontchi

French: jujume malgache, marromse, prune malgache, prunier de Madagascar

Spanish: ciruela gobernadora

Habit:  tree

Description:  "Shrub or tree, generally spiny, up to 10 m tall; bark rough; spines of the trunk sometimes branched, up to 12 cm long. Vegetative parts varying from glabrous to densely pubescent. Leaves also variable in shape and size; blade ovate or elliptic, sometimes suborbicular or obovate, apex obtusely acuminate, obtuse or rounded, base cuneate to rounded, membranous to almost coriaceous, serrulate-crenate, or more rarely subentire, 2.5-12 (-16) cm long, 2-8 cm broad; lateral nerves 4-7 pairs, slightly prominent on both faces, as is the more or less dense reticulation; petiole up to 2 cm long. Flowers dioecious, or occasionally bisexual (1 or several branches of a female specimen with perfect flowers, which, however, bear fewer stamens than in the male ones). Male flowers in axillary racemes 0.5-2 cm long; pedicles slender, more or less pubescent, up to 1 cm long, the basal bracts minute and caducous. Sepals broadly ovate, apex acute to rounded, pubescent on both sides, 1.5-2.5 mm long and broad. Filaments 2-2.5 mm long; anthers 0.5 mm long. Disk lobulate. Female flowers in short racemes or solitary; pedicels up to 5 mm. Disk lobulate, clasping the base of the ovoid ovary; styles 4-8, central, connate at the base, spreading, up to 1.5 mm long; stigmas truncate. Fruit globular, reddish to reddish black when ripe, fleshy, up to 2.5 cm across, with persistent styles, up to 10-seeded. Seeds 8-10 mm long, 4-7 mm broad; testa rugose, pale brown" (Sleumer, 1975; pp. 57-58).

Habitat/ecology:  Woodland, wooded grassland and bushland, often riparian, 0-2400 m" (Sleumer, 1975; pp. 57-58). In La Réunion and Mauritius, naturalized in lowland moist forests (David Lorence, pers. com.).

Propagation:  Bird-dispersed seed.

Native range:  Africa and Asia (GRIN).

Presence:

Pacific
Country/Terr./St. & Island group	Location	Cited status & Cited as invasive & Cited as cultivated & Cited as aboriginal introduction?	Reference & Comments
French Polynesia Society Islands	Moorea Island	introduced cultivated	Welsh, S. L. (1998) (p. 114) Voucher cited: Florence 9908
French Polynesia Society Islands	Tahiti Island	introduced cultivated	Welsh, S. L. (1998) (p. 114) Vouchers cited: J. Barrau 197, Florence 3842, BRY 26323
State of Hawaii Hawaiian Islands	Hawaiian Islands	introduced cultivated	Staples, George W./Herbst, Derral/Imada, Clyde T. (2000) (p. 22)
New Caledonia New Caledonia Archipelago	Île Grande Terre	introduced cultivated	MacKee, H. S. (1994) (p. 54) Voucher cited: Cherrier in MacKee 41372
Philippines Philippine Islands	Philippine Islands	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2007)

Pacific Rim
Country/Terr./St. & Island group	Location	Cited status & Cited as invasive & Cited as cultivated & Cited as aboriginal introduction?	Reference & Comments
Cambodia Cambodia	Cambodia (Kingdom of)	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2007)
China China	China (People's Republic of)	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2007)
Indonesia Indonesia	Indonesia (Republic of)	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2007)
Malaysia Malaysia	Malaysia (country of)	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2007)
Thailand Thailand	Thailand (Kingdom of)	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2007)
Vietnam Vietnam	Vietnam (Socialist Republic of)	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2007)

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		Lorence, David (year unknown)
La Réunion (France) La Réunion Island	La Réunion Island	introduced invasive	Lavergne, Christophe (2006) "Très envahissant"
Mauritius Mautitius Islands (Mauritius and Rodrigues)	Mauritius Island		Lorence, David (year unknown)

Also reported from
Country/Terr./St. & Island group	Location	Cited status & Cited as invasive & Cited as cultivated & Cited as aboriginal introduction?	Reference & Comments
United States (continental except west coast) United States (other states)	USA (Florida)	introduced	U.S. Dept. Agr., Nat. Res. Cons. Serv. (2005)

Comments:  See also Flacourtia jangomas and Flacourtia rukam

Additional information:  Information on this prohibited species from the Miami-Dade County [Florida] web site.
Information from the World Agroforestry Centre's AgroForestryTree Database.

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

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

References:

Lavergne, Christophe. 2006. List des especes exotiques envahissantes a La Reunion. Unpublished manuscript (Excel file). .

Lorence, David. 0. David Lorence, pers. com.

MacKee, H. S. 1994. Catalogue des plantes introduites et cultivées en Nouvelle-Calédonie. Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle, Paris, 164 p.

Sleumer, H. 1975. Flacourtiaceae. In: Flora of tropical East Africa, R. M. Polhill, ed. Crown Agents, London.

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.

U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. 2007. National Genetic Resources Program. Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN). Online searchable database.

U.S. Dept. Agr., Nat. Res. Cons. Serv. 2005. The PLANTS Database, Version 3.5 (http://plants.usda.gov). National Plant Data Center, Baton Rouge, LA 70874-4490 USA.

Welsh, S. L. 1998. Flora Societensis: A summary revision of the flowering plants of the Society Islands. E.P.S. Inc., Orem, Utah. 420 pp.