Sandoricum koetjape (Burm.f.) Merr., Meliaceae

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Present on Pacific Islands?  yes

Primarily a threat at high elevations?  no

Risk assessment results:  Evaluate, score: 1 (Go to the risk assessment)

Other Latin names:  Melia koetjape Burm. f.; Sandoricum indicum Cav.

Common name(s): [more details]

English: kechapi, red santol, sentol, wild mangosteen

French: faux mangoustan, sandorique

Pohnpeian: santol

Tagalog: santol

Habit:  tree

Description:  "A fast-growing, straight-trunked , pale-barked tree 50 to 150 ft [15-45 m] tall, branched close to the ground and buttressed when old.  Young branchlets are densely brown-hairy.  The evergreen, or very briefly deciduous, spirally-arranged leaves are compound, with 3 leaflets, elliptic to oblong-ovate, 4 to 10 in [20-25 cm] long, blunt at the base and pointed at the apex.  The greenish, yellowish, or pinkish-yellow, 5-petalled flowers, about 3/8 in [1 cm] long are borne on the young branchlets in loose, stalked panicles 6 to 12 in [15-30 cm] in length.  The fruit (technically a capsule) is globose or oblate, with wrinkles extending a short distance from the base, 1 1/2 to 3 in [4-7.5 cm] wide; yellowish to golden, sometimes blushed with pink.  The downy rind may be thin or thick and contains a thin, milky juice.  It is edible, as is the white, translucent, juicy pulp (aril), sweet, subacid or sour, surrounding the 3 to 5 brown, inedible seeds which are up to 3/4 in [2 cm] long, tightly clinging or sometimes free from the pulp" (Starr, Starr & Loope, 2004; p. 24).

Habitat/ecology:  In Hawai‘i (Maui), spreading from plantations  (Starr, Starr & Loope, 2004; p. 24).

Propagation:  Seed

Native range:  "India to the East Indies" (Starr, Starr & Loope, 2004; p. 24).

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 cultivated	Herrera, Katherine/Lorence, David H./Flynn, Timothy/Balick, Michael J. (2010) (p. 112)
Guam Guam Island	Guam Island	introduced cultivated	Stone, Benjamin C. (1970) (p. 358)
Guam Guam Island	Guam Island	introduced	Fosberg, F. R./Sachet, Marie-Hélène/Oliver, Royce (1979) (p. 128)
Guam Guam Island	Guam Island		National Tropical Botanical Garden (U.S.A. Hawaii. Kalaheo.) (1966) (voucher ID: PTBG 23594) Taxon name on voucher: Sandoricum koetjape
State of Hawaii Hawaiian Islands	Maui Island	introduced invasive cultivated	Starr, Forest/Starr, Kim/Loope, Lloyd L. (2004) (p. 24) Vouchers cited: East Maui: Starr & Martz 020130-1 (BISH); West Maui: Oppenheimer & Bartlett H70302 (BISH)
State of Hawaii Hawaiian Islands	O‘ahu Island		Bishop Museum (U.S.A. Hawaii. Honolulu.) (1974) (voucher ID: BISH 405207) Taxon name on voucher: Sandoricum koetjape (Burm.f.) Merr.
Nauru Nauru Island	Nauru Island	introduced	Thaman, R. R./Fosberg, F. R./Manner, H. I./Hassall, D. C. (1994) (pp. 169-170) Not found in 1981, perhaps extinct.
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)
Philippines Philippine Islands	Philippine Islands	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2011)
Philippines Philippine Islands	Philippine Islands	possibly introduced invasive cultivated	Merrill, Elmer D. (1923) (p. 361) Planted and semicultivated, abundant in some second-growth forests. Perhaps an introduced species, but now thoroughly established.

Pacific Rim
Country/Terr./St. & Island group	Location	Cited status & Cited as invasive & Cited as cultivated & Cited as aboriginal introduction?	Reference & Comments
Indonesia Indonesia	Indonesia (Republic of)	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. 77) Endangered

Additional information:
Fact sheet from the Agroforestree database.
Extract from "Fruits of warm climates". Julia F. Morton, Miami, FL, 1987.

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

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

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

References:

Bishop Museum (U.S.A. Hawaii. Honolulu.). 1974. Voucher specimen #BISH405207(Herbst, D.R. 5008).

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.

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

Herrera, Katherine/Lorence, David H./Flynn, Timothy/Balick, Michael J. 2010. Checklist of the vascular plants of Pohnpei with local names and uses. Allertonia, in press. National Tropical Botanical Garden, Lawai, Hawai‘i. 146 pp.

Merrill, Elmer D. 1923. An enumeration of Philippine flowering plants, vol. 2 [reprint]. Bureau of Printing, Manila. 530 pp.

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.

Starr, Forest/Starr, Kim/Loope, Lloyd L. 2004. New plant records from the Hawaiian Archipelago. In: Evenhuis, Neal L. and Eldredge, Lucius G., eds. Records of the Hawaii Biological Survey for 2003. Part 2: Notes. Bishop Museum Occasional Papers. 79:20-30.

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

Thaman, R. R./Fosberg, F. R./Manner, H. I./Hassall, D. C. 1994. The flora of Nauru. Smithsonian Institution, Washington. Atoll Research Bulletin 392:1-223.

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