Spondias mombin L., Anacardiaceae

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Present on Pacific Islands?  yes

Primarily a threat at high elevations?  no

Risk assessment results:  High risk, score: 10 (Go to the risk assessment)

Other Latin names:  Spondias lutea L.

Common name(s): [more details]

English: ambarella, ashanti plum, golden apple, hogplum, Jamaica plum, jobo, Spanish plum, thorny hog plum, hog plum, yellow mombin

French: mombin, mombin à fruits jaunes, mombin franc, mombin jaune, prune d'or, prune mombine, prunier mombin, prunier myrobolan

Maori (Cook Islands): māpera, māpēra, māpēra, marbel

Palauan: mesehezl, mesehzl

Spanish: choco, ciruela agria, ciruela amarilla, jobo, jocote, mango ciruelo, marapa, ubos

Tahitian: vi popa‘a

Habit:  tree

Description:  "Jobo...is recognized by: (1) numerous spinelike projections 1/4-3/4 inch long on the thick, corky bark of the trunk; (2) a very spreading yellow-green crown, usually with few nearly horizontal branches; (3) pinnate leaves 8-16 inches or more in length with 9-19 asymmetrical ovate or lance-shaped, short or long-pointed, thin leaflets; (4) numerous small, fragrant, yellowish-white, 5-parted flowers nearly 1/4 inch across in showy branched terminal clusters; and (5) clusters of yellow, cylindrical, soft, juicy fruits 1 1/4-1 1/2 inches long and 3/4-1 inch in diameter, edible though inferior.

"A small to medium-sized deciduous tree to 60 feet in height and 2 1/2 feet in trunk diameter.  The whitish-brown or gray bark is smoothish except for numerous spine-like projections 1/4-3/4 inch high, becoming rough and furrowed.  Inner bark is light pink and  slightly bitter.  A resin exudes from cuts.  The stout twigs are hairless or finely hairy.  The alternate leaves have slender and finely hairy axes.  The leaflets are more or less paired except for the terminal one, on stalks 1/8-1/4 inch long.  Leaflet blades are 2-4 inches long and 1-1 3/4 inches broad, short-pointed or rounded and oblique at base, the edges not toothed or slightly wavy, yellow-green on upper surface and paler beneath.  The spreading flower clusters (panicles) are 6-12 inches or more in length, with flowers on short stalks 1/16 inch or more in length.  Flowers are male or female and bisexual on the same tree (polygamous). The minute hairy calyx is 5-lobed; there are 5 yellowish-white petals nearly 1/8 inch long, spreading and curved back; 10 stamens; and pistil on a disk, composed of ovary and 4 styles. The pleasantly odorous fruits (drupes) have a thin yellow edible flesh with slightly sour pungent taste and a large few-seeded stone about 1 inch long" (Little and Wadsworth, 1964; pp. 294-295).

Habitat/ecology:  In Puerto Rico, "along roadsides and fence rows and in pastures and forests in the coastal, moist limestone, and lower mountain regions" (Little and Wadsworth, 1964; pp. 294-295).

Propagation:  Seed

Native range:  "Throughout West Indies except Bahamas and from southern Mexico to Peru and Brazil, in part cultivated or naturalized.  Planted in southern Florida.  Also in Old World tropics, perhaps introduced (Little and Wadsworth, 1964; pp. 294-295).

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	Mangaia Island	introduced cultivated	McCormack, Gerald (2011)
Cook Islands Southern Cook Islands	Ma‘uke Island	introduced cultivated	McCormack, Gerald (2011)
Cook Islands Southern Cook Islands	Rarotonga Island	introduced cultivated	McCormack, Gerald (2011)
Ecuador (Galápagos Islands) Santa Cruz Group	Santa Cruz Island	introduced cultivated	Charles Darwin Foundation (2008)
Federated States of Micronesia Yap Islands	Yap (Waqab) Island	introduced	Fosberg, F. R./Sachet, Marie-Hélène/Oliver, Royce (1979) (p. 147)
French Polynesia Marquesas Islands	Hiva Oa Island	introduced invasive cultivated	Florence, J./Chevillotte, H./Ollier, C./Meyer, J.-Y. (2011) Naturalisée
French Polynesia Marquesas Islands	Nuku Hiva (Nukahiva) Island	introduced invasive cultivated	Florence, J./Chevillotte, H./Ollier, C./Meyer, J.-Y. (2011) Naturalisée
French Polynesia Society Islands	Huahine Island	introduced invasive	Florence, J./Chevillotte, H./Ollier, C./Meyer, J.-Y. (2011) Voucher cited: D. Baré 132 (PAP) Naturalisée
French Polynesia Society Islands	Moorea Island	introduced invasive	Florence, J./Chevillotte, H./Ollier, C./Meyer, J.-Y. (2011) Voucher cited: C.L. Cartier 115 (PAP)
French Polynesia Society Islands	Raiatea (Havai) Island	introduced cultivated	Welsh, S. L. (1998) (p. 30) Voucher cited: BRY 26408
French Polynesia Society Islands	Tahiti Island		Fosberg, F. R. (1997) (p. 4)
French Polynesia Society Islands	Tahiti Island	introduced invasive cultivated	Florence, J./Chevillotte, H./Ollier, C./Meyer, J.-Y. (2011) Voucher cited: J. Florence 2457 (PAP), J. Florence 2457b (PAP) Naturalisée
Guam Guam Island	Guam Island	introduced	Raulerson, L. (2006) (p. 43)
State of Hawaii Hawaiian Islands	O‘ahu Island		Bishop Museum (U.S.A. Hawaii. Honolulu.) (1927) (voucher ID: BISH 22935) Taxon name on voucher: Spondias mombin L.
Nauru Nauru Island	Nauru Island	introduced	Fosberg, F. R./Sachet, Marie-Hélène/Oliver, Royce (1979) (p. 147)
New Caledonia New Caledonia Archipelago	Île Grande Terre	introduced invasive cultivated	MacKee, H. S. (1994) (p. 14) Vouchers cited: J. Bernier 210, Dambreville in MacKee 23286, MacKee 23318
Palau Palau (main island group)	Palau Islands (main island group)	introduced	Fosberg, F. R./Sachet, Marie-Hélène/Oliver, Royce (1979) (p. 147)

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	Little, Elbert L./Wadsworth, Frank H. (1964) (p. 294)
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)		Holm, Leroy/Pancho, Juan V./Herberger, James P./Plucknett, Donald L. (1979) (p. 349)
Mexico Mexico	Mexico (United Mexican States)		Little, Elbert L./Wadsworth, Frank H. (1964) (p. 294)
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	Little, Elbert L./Wadsworth, Frank H. (1964) (p. 294)

Comments:  Reported as possibly an invasive plant in the Galápagos Islands per Charles Darwin Research Station.

Additional information:
Espinoza, R., Masís, A., Chavarría, F., Guadamuz, A. y Perez, D., 1998. Species Page de Spondias mombin (Anacardiaceae), 15 junio 1998. Species Home Pages, Area de Conservación Guanacaste, Costa Rica.
Information from the World Agroforestry Centre's AgroForestryTree Database.
Information from Morton, J. 1987. Yellow Mombin. p. 245-248. In: Fruits of warm climates.

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

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

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

References:

Bishop Museum (U.S.A. Hawaii. Honolulu.). 1927. Voucher specimen #BISH22935(MacDaniels, L.H. 456).

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

Charles Darwin Research Station. 2005. CDRS Herbarium records.

Falanruw, Marjorie C./Maka, Jean E./Cole, Thomas G./Whitesell, Craig D. 1990. Common and scientific names of trees and shrubs of Mariana, Caroline, and Marshall Islands. Pac. SW Forest and Range Expt. Stn. Resource Bulletin PSW-67. 91 pp.

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. 1997. Preliminary checklist of the flowering plants and ferns of the Society Islands. Ed. by David R. Stoddart. U. Cal. Berkeley.

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

Holm, Leroy/Pancho, Juan V./Herberger, James P./Plucknett, Donald L. 1979. A geographical atlas of world weeds. John Wiley & Sons, New York. 391 pp.

Little, Elbert L./Wadsworth, Frank H. 1964. Common trees of Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agriculture Handbook No. 249. 548 pp.

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.

Porcher, Michel H. 2011. Searchable World Wide Web Multilingual Multiscript Plant Name Database. The University of Melbourne, Australia. Online resource.

Raulerson, L. 2006. Checklist of Plants of the Mariana Islands. University of Guam Herbarium Contribution 37:1-69. .

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.

Whistler, W. A. 1990. Ethnobotany of the Cook Islands: The plants, their Maori names, and their uses. Allertonia 5(4):347-424.