Melicoccus bijugatus Jacq., Sapindaceae

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Present on Pacific Islands?  yes

Primarily a threat at high elevations?  no

Risk assessment results:  Evaluate, score: 4 (Go to the risk assessment)

Other Latin names:  Melicoccus bijuga L.

Common name(s): [more details]

English: genip, honeyberry, Spanish lime

French: kenépier, quenette, quenettes, quenettet, quenettier

Spanish: mamón, mamoncillo

Tahitian: kōneti, koneti, kōneti, kōneti

Habit:  tree

Description:  "The mamoncillo tree is slow-growing, erect, stately, attractive; to 85 ft (25 m) high, with trunk to 5 1/2 ft (1.7 m) thick; smooth, gray bark, and spreading branches. Young branchlets are reddish. The leaves are briefly deciduous, alternate, compound, having 4 opposite, elliptic, sharp-pointed leaflets 2 to 5 in (5-12.5 cm) long and 1 1/4 to 2 1/2 in (3.25-6.25 cm) wide, the rachis frequently conspicuously winged as is that of the related soapberry (Sapindus saponaria L.). The flowers, in slender racemes 2 1/3 to 4 in (6-10 cm) long, often clustered in terminal panicles, are fragrant, white, 1/5 to 1/3 in (5-8 mm) wide, with 4 petals and 8 stamens. Male and female are usually borne on separate trees but some trees are partly polygamous. The fruit clusters are branched, compact and heavy with nearly round, green fruits tipped with a small protrusion, and suggesting at first glance small unripe limes, but there the resemblance ends. The skin is smooth, thin but leathery and brittle. The glistening pulp (aril) is salmon-colored or yellowish, translucent, gelatinous, juicy but very scant and somewhat fibrous, usually clinging tenaciously to the seed. When fully ripe, the pulp is pleasantly acid-sweet but if unripe acidity predominates. In most fruits there is a single, large, yellowish-white, hard-shelled seed, while some have 2 hemispherical seeds. The kernel is white, crisp, starchy, and astringent." (Morton, 1987).

Habitat/ecology:  Tree up to 30 m, often planted in tropical areas for its fruit. Well adapted to areas of low rainfall and grows to 1,000 m elevation in South America. Will grow in most soils, including very poor ones (Morton, 1987).

Propagation:  Seed

Native range:  Central and northern South America.

Presence:

Pacific
Country/Terr./St. & Island group	Location	Cited status & Cited as invasive & Cited as cultivated & Cited as aboriginal introduction?	Reference & Comments
Cook Islands Southern Cook Islands	‘Atiu Island	introduced cultivated	Space, James C./Flynn, Tim (2002) (p. 81)
Cook Islands Southern Cook Islands	‘Atiu Island		Bishop Museum (Honolulu) (1991) (voucher ID: BISH 665336) Taxon name on voucher: Melicocca bijuga
Cook Islands Southern Cook Islands	Rarotonga Island	cultivated	Sykes, Bill (year unknown)
Cook Islands Southern Cook Islands	Rarotonga Island		Bishop Museum (Honolulu) (1929) (voucher ID: BISH 179707) Taxon name on voucher: Melicocca bijuga
Ecuador (Galápagos Islands) Isabela Group	Isabela Island	introduced cultivated	Charles Darwin Foundation (2008)
Ecuador (Galápagos Islands) Isabela Group	Volcán Sierra Negra, Isabela Island	introduced invasive cultivated	Charles Darwin Foundation (2008)
French Polynesia Gambier Islands	Mangareva (Gambier) Island	introduced cultivated	Florence, J./Chevillotte, H./Ollier, C./Meyer, J.-Y. (2011) Cultivée
French Polynesia Marquesas Islands	Fatu Hiva Island	introduced cultivated	Lorence, David H./Wagner, Warren L. (2008)
French Polynesia Marquesas Islands	Fatu Hiva Island	introduced cultivated	Florence, J./Chevillotte, H./Ollier, C./Meyer, J.-Y. (2011) Cultivée
French Polynesia Marquesas Islands	Hiva Oa Island	introduced cultivated	Lorence, David H./Wagner, Warren L. (2008)
French Polynesia Marquesas Islands	Hiva Oa Island	introduced cultivated	Florence, J./Chevillotte, H./Ollier, C./Meyer, J.-Y. (2011) Cultivée
French Polynesia Marquesas Islands	Hiva Oa Island		National Tropical Botanical Garden (U.S.A. Hawaii. Kalaheo.) (1974) (voucher ID: PTBG 13238) Taxon name on voucher: Melicoccus bijugatus
French Polynesia Marquesas Islands	Nuku Hiva (Nukahiva) Island	introduced cultivated	Florence, J./Chevillotte, H./Ollier, C./Meyer, J.-Y. (2011) Cultivée
French Polynesia Society Islands	Moorea Island	introduced cultivated	Welsh, S. L. (1998) (p. 261) Voucher cited: Fosberg 60936
French Polynesia Society Islands	Moorea Island	introduced cultivated	Florence, J./Chevillotte, H./Ollier, C./Meyer, J.-Y. (2011) Voucher cited: F.R. Fosberg 60936 (PAP) Cultivée
French Polynesia Society Islands	Tahiti Island	introduced cultivated	Welsh, S. L. (1998) (p. 261) Voucher cited: Grant 4346
French Polynesia Society Islands	Tahiti Island	introduced cultivated	Florence, J./Chevillotte, H./Ollier, C./Meyer, J.-Y. (2011) Voucher cited: J. Florence 2511 (PAP) Communément planté pour ses fruits comestibles.
French Polynesia Tuamotu Archipelago	Makatea (Ma‘atea) Island	introduced cultivated	Florence, J./Chevillotte, H./Ollier, C./Meyer, J.-Y. (2011) Voucher cited: J. Florence 4047 (PAP) Cultivée
French Polynesia Tuamotu Archipelago	Manihi Atoll	introduced cultivated	Sachet, M-H. (1983) (p. 27) Voucher cited: Brooks & Brooks 64 (BISH)
French Polynesia Tuamotu Archipelago	Raro‘ia Atoll	introduced cultivated	Meyer, Jean-Yves/Fourdrigniez, Marie (2008) (p. 15)
French Polynesia Tuamotu Archipelago	Takapoto Atoll	introduced cultivated	Sachet, M-H. (1983) (p. 27)
French Polynesia Austral (Tubuai) Islands	Tubuai Island	introduced cultivated	Florence, J./Chevillotte, H./Ollier, C./Meyer, J.-Y. (2011) Cultivée
State of Hawaii Hawaiian Islands	Hawai‘i (Big) Island		Flynn, Tim (year unknown)
New Caledonia New Caledonia Archipelago	Île Grande Terre	introduced cultivated	MacKee, H. S. (1994) (p. 127) Vouchers cited: Lambert in Veillon 4822 (NOU), MacKee 42375

Pacific Rim
Country/Terr./St. & Island group	Location	Cited status & Cited as invasive & Cited as cultivated & Cited as aboriginal introduction?	Reference & Comments
Colombia Colombia	Colombia (Republic of)	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2011)

Comments:  Forms monospecific stands in native forests in the Virgin Islands (Fred Kraus, communications to Aliens listserver).

Additional information:
Additional online information about Melicoccus bijugatus is available from the Hawaiian Ecosystems at Risk project (HEAR).

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

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

References:

Bishop Museum (Honolulu). 1929. Voucher specimen #BISH 179707 (Wilder, G.P. 982).

Bishop Museum (Honolulu). 1991. Voucher specimen #BISH 665336 (Sykes, W.R. 474742).

Charles Darwin Foundation. 2008. Database inventory of introduced plant species in the rural and urban zones of Galapagos. Charles Darwin Foundation, Galapagos, Ecuador.

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).

Flynn, Tim. 0. Tim Flynn, pers. com.

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

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

McCormack, Gerald. 2011. Cook Islands Biodiversity Database, Version 2007.2. Cook Islands Natural Heritage Trust, Rarotonga.

Meyer, Jean-Yves/Fourdrigniez, Marie. 2008. Rapport de mission sur l'atoll de Raro‘ia (Tuamotu Centre) du 12 au 19 Octobre 2008: Inventaire preliminaire de la flore vasculaire. de l'avifaune terrestre & marine, et recommandations de conservation et de gestion [unpublished report]. Délégation à la Recherche, Ministère de l'Education, l'Enseignement Supérieur et la Recherche, B.P. 20981 Papeete, Tahiti, Polynésie française. 24 pp.

Morton, Julia F. 1987. Fruits of warm climates. Julia F. Morton, Miami, Florida.

Sachet, M-H. 1983. Takapoto Atoll, Tuamotu Archipelago: terrestrial vegetation and flora. Atoll Research Bulletin No. 277. Smithsonian Institution, Washington. 41 pp. + photos.

Space, James C./Flynn, Tim. 2002. Report to the Government of the Cook Islands on invasive plant species of environmental concern. USDA Forest Service, Honolulu. 146 pp.

Sykes, Bill. 0. Bill Sykes, pers. com.

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

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.