Pithecellobium unguis-cati (L.) Benth., Fabaceae

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Present on Pacific Islands?  no

Primarily a threat at high elevations?  no

Other Latin names:  Mimosa unguis-cati L.; Pithecellobium pulchellum Pittier; Zygia unguis-cati (L.) Sudw.

Common name(s): [more details]

English: blackbead, bread-and-cheese, cat's claw, catclaw blackbead

French: ongles de chat

Spanish: arranca pellejo

Habit:  tree

Description:  "The plant usually has multiple stems arising at or below ground level.  The stems and branches are gray and nearly smooth with lenticels and rings at the nodes.  The paired spines are persistent.  Bread-and-cheese produces a taproot and abundant lateral and fine roots.  Alternate hairless leaves have petioles 2 to 5 cm long and leaf blades 2 to 6 cm long.  There are four obliquely obovate or oblong leaflets per leaf.  The greenish-yellow, yellow, or pink flowers form terminal or axillary racemes or panicles in heads.  The legume, 5 to 10 cm long, is coiled or curved and splits open to reveal 4- to 6-mm shiny, black seeds surrounded by white to red fleshy arils.  Bread-and-cheese is easily confused with Pithecelobium dulce.  The latter is a tree with somewhat smaller leaves, coarser twigs, larger fruits, and less pronounced rings at the nodes" (Wildland shrubs of the United States and its territories).

Habitat/ecology:  In Puerto Rico, "from near sea level to about 450 m in elevation on soils derived from both igneous and sedimentary rocks.  The species prefers well-drained soils, but all soil textures appear to be tolerated.  With few exceptions, it grows in areas receiving less than 1000 mm of annual precipitation.  Because of reduced competition from trees, the species tends to grow on sand dunes, coastal strands and keys, and on shallow rocky soils, sometimes forming thickets (West and Arnold, 1952).  Bread-and-cheese appears to tolerate salt spray and salty groundwater" (Wildland shrubs of the United States and its territories).

Propagation:  Seed.  The shrubs resprout readily after cutting or fire   (Wildland shrubs of the United States and its territories).

Native range:  Mexico, Central America, northern South America (GRIN). From Florida through the Antilles, Trinidad and Tobago, Bonaire, Curacao, Aruba, Guyana and Venezuela (Wildland shrubs of the United States and its territories).

Presence:

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)
El Salvador El Salvador	El Salvador (Republic of)	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2011)
Guatemala Guatemala	Guatemala (Republic of)	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2011)
Honduras Honduras	Honduras (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)

Indian Ocean
Country/Terr./St. & Island group	Location	Cited status & Cited as invasive & Cited as cultivated & Cited as aboriginal introduction?	Reference & Comments
British Indian Ocean Territory Chagos Archipelago	Diego Garcia Island	introduced cultivated	Topp, J. M. W. (1988) (p. 6)
British Indian Ocean Territory Chagos Archipelago	Diego Garcia Island	introduced invasive cultivated	Rivers, Julie (2004) (pp. 4, 7)
La Réunion (France) La Réunion Island	La Réunion Island	introduced	ILDIS Co-ordinating Centre (2011)
Mauritius Mautitius Islands (Mauritius and Rodrigues)	Mauritius Island	introduced	ILDIS Co-ordinating Centre (2011)
Mauritius Mautitius Islands (Mauritius and Rodrigues)	Rodrigues Island	introduced	ILDIS Co-ordinating Centre (2011)
Seychelles Seychelles Islands	Coetivy Island		Robertson, S. A./Fosberg, F. R. (1983) (p. 150) Voucher cited: Roberston 3143 (K)
Seychelles Seychelles Islands	Frégate Island		Robertson, S. A./Todd, D. M. (1983) (p. 52) Voucher cited: Todd 49
Seychelles Seychelles Islands	Groupe d'Aldabra	introduced	ILDIS Co-ordinating Centre (2011)
Seychelles Seychelles Islands	Poivre Island		Robertson, S. A./Fosberg, F. R. (1983) (p. 171)
Seychelles Seychelles Islands	Seychelles Islands	introduced	ILDIS Co-ordinating Centre (2011)
Seychelles Seychelles Islands	St. Joseph Island		Stoddart, D. R./Coe, M. J./Fosberg, F. R. (1979) (p. 45) Voucher cited: Gwynne & Wood 953 (EA)

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 invasive	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2011)

Comments:  Reported to be naturalized in United States (Florida) & Bermuda (GRIN).

Additional information:
Fact sheet from "Wildland shrubs of the United States and its territories: thamnic descriptions" (PDF format).

Additional online information about Pithecellobium unguis-cati is available from the Hawaiian Ecosystems at Risk project (HEAR).

Information about Pithecellobium unguis-cati as a weed (worldwide references) may be available from the Global Compendium of Weeds (GCW).

Taxonomic information about Pithecellobium unguis-cati may be available from the Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN).

References:

Francis, John K., ed. 2009. Wildland Shrubs of the United States and its Territories: Thamnic Descriptions General Technical Report IITF-WB-1 U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service International Institute of Tropical Forestry and Shrub Sciences Laboratory (online resource).

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

Little, Elbert L./Woodbury, Roy O./Wadsworth, Frank H. 1974. Common trees of Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands, vol. 2. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agriculture Handbook No. 449. 1024 pp.

Rivers, Julie. 2004. Botanical survey update of Diego Garcia, Chagos Archipeligo, British Indian Ocean Territory. Naval Facilities Engineering Command, Pacific. 16 pp. plus "List of the higher plants of Diego Garcia".

Robertson, S. A./Fosberg, F. R. 1983. List of plants collected on Coetivy Island, Seychelles. In: Sachet, M. H., D. R. Stoddart, and F. R. Fosberg. Floristics and ecology of Western Indian Ocean islands. Atoll Research Bulletin No. 273. Smithsonian Institution, Washington. 253 pp.

Robertson, S. A./Fosberg, F. R. 1983. List of plants of Poivre Island, Seychelles. In: Sachet, M. H., D. R. Stoddart, and F. R. Fosberg. Floristics and ecology of Western Indian Ocean islands. Atoll Research Bulletin No. 273. Smithsonian Institution, Washington. 253 pp.

Robertson, S. A./Todd, D. M. 1983. Vegetation of Frégate Island, Seychelles. In: Sachet, M. H., D. R. Stoddart, and F. R. Fosberg. Floristics and ecology of Western Indian Ocean islands. Atoll Research Bulletin No. 273. Smithsonian Institution, Washington. 253 pp.

Stoddart, D. R./Coe, M. J./Fosberg, F. R. 1979. D'Arros and St. Joseph, Amirante Islands. Atoll Research Bulletin No. 223. The Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C. 48 pp.

Topp, J. M. W. 1988. An annotated check list of the flora of Diego Garcia, British Ocean Territory. Atoll Research Bulletin No. 313. Smithsonian Institution, Washington. 21 pp.

U. S. Government. 2011. Integrated Taxonomic Information System (ITIS) (on-line resource).

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