Myroxylon balsamum (L.) Harms, Fabaceae

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Present on Pacific Islands?  yes

Primarily a threat at high elevations?  no

Risk assessment results:  High risk, score: 7 (Go to the risk assessment)

Common name(s): [more details]

English: balsam of Peru, tolu balsam

Habit:  tree

Description:  "Large tree to 40 m in native habitat; bark resinous and aromatic when broken.  Leafstalk 5-10 (-15) cm; leaflets (5-) 7-13, alternate or irregular, petiolulate 2-4 mm, ovate or elliptic-oblong, acuminate, 3-8 (-12) cm, 11.7-3 r, coriaceous, glossy, glabrous, reticulate, with pellucid lines and dots.  Inflorescences axillary or terminal, congested, with glandular-puberulent axes.  Flowers numerous, 7-9 mm (-slightly larger), soon divergent or nodding.  Pedicels 4-8 mm.  Calyx broadly bowl-shaped, 4-6 mm, irregularly undulate or abortively-toothed, finely canescent-puberulent.  Corolla inconspicuous, white; standard ca. 10 mm, ascending or curved, broadly ovate, long-clawed.  Stamens exserted, with conspicuous anthers.  Pistil glabrous; ovary narrowly obovate, with 2 subterminal ovules.  Legume exserted-stipitate 5-10 mm, oblong-oblanceolate, distally rounded, flat except at seed-bearing apex, 5-11 cm x ca. 2-2.5 cm, punctate or not; valves (central portion) linear-oblanceolate, coriaceous, longitudinally striate and becoming wrinkled, expressed over the apical seed; wings apery, smooth, constituting most of the width of the fruit.  Seed 1, 1-2 cm."

"The Peru-balsam, an economic species of the tropics, is recognized by its irregularly alternate leaflets, small, nodding flowers (little bowls with a central cluster of shortly exserted anthers), and fruits resembling a giant maple samara" (Isely, 1981; pp. 25-27).

Habitat/ecology:  In Fiji, infrequently cultivated near sea level (Smith, 1985; p. 150).

Propagation:  Seed

Native range:  "Southern Mexico to Panama (and possibly Colombia), cultivated elsewhere" (Smith, 1985; p. 150). "Mexico to northern South America; cultivated in tropics of both hemispheres" (Isely, 1981; pp. 25-27).

Presence:

Pacific
Country/Terr./St. & Island group	Location	Cited status & Cited as invasive & Cited as cultivated & Cited as aboriginal introduction?	Reference & Comments
Federated States of Micronesia Pohnpei Islands	Pohnpei Island	introduced	Fosberg, F. R./Sachet, Marie-Hélène/Oliver, Royce (1979) (pp. 114-115)
Fiji Fiji Islands	Viti Levu Island	introduced cultivated	Smith, Albert C. (1985) (p. 150) var pereirae (Royle) Harms. Voucher cited: DA 1552
French Polynesia Society Islands	Tahiti Island	introduced cultivated	Florence, J./Chevillotte, H./Ollier, C./Meyer, J.-Y. (2011) var. pereirae (J.F. Royle) H.E. Baillon Cultivée
Marshall Islands Ralik Chain	Kwajalein (Kuwajleen) Atoll	introduced	Fosberg, F. R./Sachet, Marie-Hélène/Oliver, Royce (1979) (pp. 114-115)
Marshall Islands Ralik Chain	Kwajalein (Kuwajleen) Atoll	introduced	Whistler, W. A./Steele, O. (1999) (p. 100) Not seen on this survey.
New Caledonia New Caledonia Archipelago	Île Grande Terre	introduced cultivated	MacKee, H. S. (1994) (p. 87) Vouchers cited: MacKee 12167, MacKee 12171

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)
Costa Rica Costa Rica	Costa Rica (Republic of)	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2011)
Ecuador (Mainland) Ecuador	Ecuador (Republic of) (continental)	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2011)
El Salvador El Salvador	El Salvador (Republic of)	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2011)
Indonesia Indonesia	Indonesia (Republic of)	introduced	ILDIS Co-ordinating Centre (2011)
Mexico Mexico	Mexico (United Mexican States)	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2011)
Nicaragua Nicaragua	Nicaragua (Republic of)	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2011)
Panama Panama	Panama (Republic of)	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2011)
Perú Perú	Perú (Republic of)	native	ILDIS Co-ordinating Centre (2011)

Comments:  Reported to be invasive in wet and intermediate zones, sub-montane forest in Sri Lanka (Pallawatta et al., 2003; p. 93).

Additional information:
Information from the World Agroforestry Centre's AgroForestryTree Database.
Information from the USDA Tropical Tree Seed Manual (PDF format).

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

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

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

References:

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.

ILDIS Co-ordinating Centre. 2011. International Legume Database & Information Service. Online searchable database.

Isely, Duane. 1981. Leguminosae of the United States. III Subfamily Papilionoidae: Tribes Sophoreae, Podalyrieae, Loteae. Mem. N.Y. Bot. Gar. 25(3).

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

Pallawatta, Nirmalie/Reaser, Jamie K./Gutierrez, Alixis T./eds. 2003. Invasive alien species in south-southeast Asia: national reports and directory of resources. Global Invasive Species Programme. 111 pp.

Smith, Albert C. 1985. Flora Vitiensis nova: a new flora of Fiji. National Tropical Botanical Garden, Lawai, Kauai, Hawaii. Volume 3. 758 pp.

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

Whistler, W. A./Steele, O. 1999. Botanical survey of the United States of America Kwajalein Atoll (USAKA) Islands. Prepared for Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education and the U. S. Army Environmental Center. 111 pp.