Sechium edule (Jacq.) Sw., Cucurbitaceae

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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]

Chamorro: choyote

Chinese: fo shou gua

English: chayote, cho-cho, christophine, pipinella, vegetable pear

French: chayotte, chou-chou, chouchou, chouchoute, christofine, christophine

Hawaiian: pīpīnola

Other: chayote, choyote

Samoan: soko, soko

Spanish: chocho, pipinela, tallote

Tongan: sioka

Habit:  vine

Description:  "Perennial climber; somewhat resembling the cucumber plant; leaves slightly rough, broadly cordate entire or somewhat angled 10-20 cm long; staminate flowers pale green, in long racemes; pistillate flowers solitary; corolla 12-17 mm broad; ovary 5-grooved; fruit pyriform, containing one seed, pale green to white, in some forms set with soft spines, with a few shallow, narrow, longitudinal grooves, usually slightly bumpy, 7-20 cm long"  (Stone, 1970).

"Stems climbing to 40 ft. high; rootstock tuberous.  Leaf petioles to 6 inches long; blades broadly ovate, to 10 inches x 10 inches, 3- or 5-angled or shallowly lobed, shortly-rough-hairy, base cordate, lobe apexes tapering.  Inflorescences (staminate) to 10 inches long.  Flower corolla ±0.5 inches in diameter, green; pistillate flower stalks ±0.5 inches long.  Fruit pear-shaped, 3-8 inches long, green to white, smooth, furrowed, or sparsely and softly spiny.  Seed large, clinging to flesh, protruding from fruit apex"  (Staples & Herbst, 2005; p. 269).

Habitat/ecology:  Full sun and ample water.  In the tropics, it does best in cooler climates above 1,000 feet elevation (Staples & Herbst, 2005; p. 269).

Propagation:  Seed

Native range:  Probably Mexico and Guatemala (Staples & Herbst, 2005; p. 269).

Presence:

Pacific
Country/Terr./St. & Island group	Location	Cited status & Cited as invasive & Cited as cultivated & Cited as aboriginal introduction?	Reference & Comments
Fiji Fiji Islands	Fiji Islands	introduced cultivated	Smith, Albert C. (1981) (p. 686)
French Polynesia Society Islands	Tahiti Island	introduced cultivated	Florence, J./Chevillotte, H./Ollier, C./Meyer, J.-Y. (2011) Voucher cited: J. Florence 4615 (PAP) De culture assez répandue.
Guam Guam Island	Guam Island	introduced cultivated	Stone, Benjamin C. (1970) (p. 567)
Guam Guam Island	Guam Island	introduced	Fosberg, F. R./Sachet, Marie-Hélène/Oliver, Royce (1979) (p. 179)
State of Hawaii Hawaiian Islands	Kaua‘i Island	introduced invasive cultivated	Staples, George W./Herbst, Derral R. (2005) (p. 269) Occasionally naturalized
State of Hawaii Hawaiian Islands	O‘ahu Island	introduced invasive cultivated	Staples, George W./Herbst, Derral R. (2005) (p. 269) Occasionally naturalized
New Caledonia New Caledonia Archipelago	Île Grande Terre	introduced invasive cultivated	MacKee, H. S. (1994) (p. 47) Vouchers cited: Guillaumin & Baumann s.n., MacKee 12126, MacKee 43433 "Envahissant"
Niue Niue	Niue Island	introduced cultivated	Yuncker, T. G. (1943) (p. 115) Voucher cited: Yuncker 9975 (BISH). Not seen in 1965 per Sykes (1970).
Palau Palau (main island group)	Palau Islands (main island group)		Lorence, David H./Flynn, Tim (2010) (p. 26)
Papua New Guinea Bismarck Archipelago	Bismarck Archipelago	introduced invasive cultivated	Peekel, P. G. [translated by E. E. Henty] (1984) (p. 551) Grown as a vegetable, now wild in the Bismarck Archipelago.

Pacific Rim
Country/Terr./St. & Island group	Location	Cited status & Cited as invasive & Cited as cultivated & Cited as aboriginal introduction?	Reference & Comments
China China	China (People's Republic of)	introduced cultivated	Zhengyi, Wu/Raven, Peter H./Deyuan, Hong (2011) Commonly cultivated in S. China.
China China	Hong Kong	introduced cultivated	Wu, Te-lin (2001) (p. 106)
Guatemala Guatemala	Guatemala (Republic of)	native	Staples, George W./Herbst, Derral R. (2005) (p. 269)
Japan Japan	Japan (country)	introduced	Mito, Toshikazu/Uesugi, Tetsuro (2004) (p. 186)
Mexico Mexico	Mexico (United Mexican States)	native	Staples, George W./Herbst, Derral R. (2005) (p. 269)

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	introduced invasive cultivated	Lavergne, Christophe (2006) "Cultivé/naturalisé"
French Territory of Mayotte Mayotte Islands	Mayotte Island	introduced cultivated	Comité français de l'Union Internationale pour la Conservation de la Nature en France (2010)

Comments:  Naturalized in La Réunion per Christophe Lavergne, pers. com.

Additional information:
Factsheet from Purdue University New Crop Compendium

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

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

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

References:

Comité français de l'Union Internationale pour la Conservation de la Nature en France. 2010. Les espéces envahissantes en outre-mer (online resource).

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.

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

Lorence, David H./Flynn, Tim. 2010. Checklist of the plants of Palau. Unpublished checklist. National Tropical Botanical Garden, Lawai, Hawai‘i. 44 pp.

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

Mito, Toshikazu/Uesugi, Tetsuro. 2004. Invasive alien species in Japan: the status quo and the new regulation for prevention of their adverse effects. Global Environmental Research 8(2)/2004: 171-191.

Peekel, P. G. [translated by E. E. Henty]. 1984. Flora of the Bismarck Archipelago for naturalists. Office of Forests, Division of Botany, Lae, Papua New Guinea. 638 pp. ISBN 9980-66-000-7.

Smith, Albert C. 1981. Flora Vitiensis nova: a new flora of Fiji. National Tropical Botanical Garden, Lawai, Kauai, Hawaii. Volume 2. 810 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.

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

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

Whistler, W. A. 1991. The ethnobotany of Tonga: The plants, their Tongan names, and their uses. Bishop Museum Bulletin in Botany 2. Bishop Museum Press, Honolulu. 155 pp. ISBN 0-930897-57-9.

Whistler, W. A. 2000. Plants in Samoan culture: The ethnobotany of Samoa. Isle Botanica. 234 pp. ISB: 0-9645426-6-8.

Wu, Te-lin. 2001. Check List of Hong Kong Plants. Hong Kong Herbarium and the South China Institute of Botany. Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department Bulletin 1 (revised). 384 pp.

Yuncker, T. G. 1943. The flora of Niue Island. Bishop Mus. Bull. 178. Bishop Museum Press, Honolulu. 126 pp.

Zhengyi, Wu/Raven, Peter H./Deyuan, Hong. 2011. Flora of China (online resource).