Spondias mombin L.

Yellow mombin (en)

Species

Angiosperms > Sapindales > Anacardiaceae > Spondias

Characteristics

Tree up to 25 m high and 75-80 cm ø. Buttresses absent. Bark grey or light brown, rugged with corky, spine-like projections and knobs. Leaves 3-10 pairs; rachis 6-25 cm, petiole 2½-7 cm, both puberulous. Leaflets chartaceous, slightly asymetric, ovate-elliptic, elliptic, or elliptic-oblong, (3-)5-14(-20) by (l¼-)3-6(-7) cm, puberulous on the midrib, nerves and veins below, and on the midrib above, glabrescent; base obliquely obtuse or cuneate; apex acuminate; margin entire; nerves 8-14 pairs, joining with an intramarginal vein; veins reticulate; petiolules ⅓-⅔ cm, the terminal one up to 2½ cm. Inflorescences accompanied by mature leaves, paniculate, terminal, sometimes also in the apical leaf axils, up to 50 cm long, puberulous, glabrescent; branches up to 20 cm long; floral bracts ovate to lanceolate, ½-5 mm long; pedicels 1-2¼ mm. Flowers white. Calyx lobes triangular or deltoid, c. ⅓ mm long. Petals oblanceolate or oblong, 2½-3½ by 1¼-1½ mm. Stamens 2½-3 mm; anthers ovoid, c. 1 mm long. Disk round and flat, c. 1¼ mm ø. Ovary ovoid, c. 1 mm ø, 5-(or 4-)celled; styles 5 (or 4), free, c. ⅔ mm. Drupe (fresh) ellipsoid or broad-obovoid, 3-5 by c. 2½ cm, orange when ripe, straight, 5-(or 4-)celled; scars of styles 5 (or 4), lateral, at the apical end. Flanges of the endocarp (with fibrous processes) partly or wholly and directly connected with a peripheral layer of meshes, sometimes with cavities alternating with loculi (shown in a median, transverse section).
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Tree 6-27 m high with smooth or furrowed bark, the trunk straight. Leaves with 3-15 pairs of leaflets, the proximal leaflets alternate and the distal ? opposite, the rachis 7-35 cm long; lamina of leaflets oblong to somewhat ovate or obovate, apically acuminate or less frequently acute, basally acute to broadly obtuse, oblique and assymetric at the base, 5.5-14 cm long, 2-6.5 cm broad, membranous or sub-coriaceous, glabrous or short-pilose on the nerves and along the margins; petiolules 2-7(-12) mm long (not including the petiolule of the terminal leaflet which is often longer). Panicles terminal, 15-40 cm long, minutely hirsutulous. Flowers cc, I, 5-merous, the articulated pedicels 1.5-5 mm long; calyx-segments scale-like, ca 0.5 mm long, deltoid or deltoid-ovate; petals oblong-lanceolate or elliptic-lanceolate, apically uncinate, 2-3.5 mm long, spreading to reflexed, white or yellow; stamens 10, subequal, slightly shorter than the petals, the anthers ca 1 mm long, slightly curved, oblong-quadrate, relatively massive; disc strongly crenate (annular but virtually divided into 10 separate cushions); styles 5, more or less linear, virtually uncon-stricted at the beginning of the stigmatic portion, glabrous, ca 1 mm long. Drupes ovoid to obovoid or oblong, 1.5-4 cm long, 1-2.5 cm broad, yellow.
A medium sized tree. It grows 20-30 m high. The trunk can be 0.5-2 m across. Branches start after 10-15 m. They are widespread and sparse. The leaves are compound. They have leaflets along the stalk. The leaflets are in pairs with a leaflet at the end. There are 5-9 pairs. The flowers occur on stalks near the ends of the branches. The fruit are small and yellow. They are 2.5-4 cm long. They have one large seed. The flesh is sub-acid.
Bark thick with longitudinal fissures
Large panicles of small white flowers
A deciduous tree, to 60 ft. high
Yellow plum-like fruits
Life form perennial
Growth form tree
Growth support free-standing
Foliage retention deciduous
Sexuality hermaphrodite
Pollination entomogamy
Spread -
Mature width (meter) -
Mature height (meter) 15.0 - 18.29
Root system tap-root
Rooting depth (meter) 1.2
Root diameter (meter) -
Flower color
Blooming months
JanFebMar
AprMayJun
JulAugSep
OctNovDec
Fruit color
Fruiting months -
Nitrogen fixer -
Photosynthetic pathway c3

Environment

It is tropical. It grows in the tropical lowlands. It will grow in wet or dry zones. It grows up to 1,000 m above sea level. In Bolivia it grows where rainfall is 1,000-1,500 mm per year. It cannot tolerate frost. In Cairns Botanical Gardens. It can tolerate a range of soils.
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Widespread and common in farmland, regrowth and villages, especially in the forest regions, but also in the savannah regions, usually thought to be an ancient introduction from America, but possibly native in W. Africa.
Occurs in a great variety of humid tropical climates, often in secondary vegetation derived from evergreen lowland forest or semi-deciduous forest.
Lowland forests and along the inner border of tidal forests. Fl. Jan.-June, Sept.-Oct.; fr. March, Aug.
Light 7-8
Soil humidity 1-6
Soil texture 1-4
Soil acidity 2-7
Soil nutriment -
Hardiness (USDA) 10-11

Usage

The fruit are used fresh or cooked. They are acidic. They are also used for jams, jellies and ice cream. The fruit can be dried. Because it is sour it is often sweetened and used for drinks. The unripe fruit are pickled and eaten like olives. The young leaves are cooked and eaten.
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Uses. According to HEYNE ( HEYNE Nutt. Pl. 1927 ) occasionally planted as a shade tree. The thick bark can be used for making stamps. The fruits have an acid taste and are useless.
Uses animal food bee plant coffee substitute dye environmental use fodder food fuel gene source invertebrate food material medicinal poison social use tea timber vertebrate poison wood
Edible fruits leaves roots saps seeds shoots
Therapeutic use Antiviral agents (leaf), Antiviral agents (stem), Anodyne (unspecified), Antiseptic (unspecified), Asthma (unspecified), Astringent (unspecified), Cancer(Uterus) (unspecified), Cold (unspecified), Congestion (unspecified), Cough (unspecified), Diarrhea (unspecified), Diuretic (unspecified), Erysipelas (unspecified), Exhaustion (unspecified), Expectorant (unspecified), Eye (unspecified), Fever (unspecified), Gargle (unspecified), Gonorrhea (unspecified), Inflammation (unspecified), Laxative (unspecified), Liqueur (unspecified), Nephritis (unspecified), Ophthalmia (unspecified), Poison (unspecified), Sore (unspecified), Sore(Throat) (unspecified), Spasm (unspecified), Swelling (unspecified), Tumor (unspecified), Urethritis (unspecified), Vermifuge (unspecified), Vulnerary (unspecified), Water (unspecified), Wound (unspecified), Internal (unspecified), Leprosy (unspecified), Malignancy (unspecified), Soap (unspecified), Thrush (unspecified), Purgative (unspecified), Taenifuge (unspecified), Cicatrizant (unspecified)
Human toxicity -
Animal toxicity -

Cultivation

Plants can be grown from seed or cuttings. The fresh fruit can be planted whole. The flesh can be removed and the seeds dried. Seeds only store well for about 3 months. Seeds germinate in 20-40 days. It is often used as a living fence or hedge. Plants can be budded.
Mode cuttings seedlings
Germination duration (days) -
Germination temperacture (C°) -
Germination luminosity -
Germination treatment -
Minimum temperature (C°) 1
Optimum temperature (C°) 21 - 27
Size -
Vigor -
Productivity -

Images

Habit

Spondias mombin habit picture by Trap Hers (cc-by-sa)
Spondias mombin habit picture by Nelson Zamora Villalobos (cc-by-nc)
Spondias mombin habit picture by Nelson Zamora Villalobos (cc-by-nc)

Leaf

Spondias mombin leaf picture by Nelson Zamora Villalobos (cc-by-nc)
Spondias mombin leaf picture by Nelson Zamora Villalobos (cc-by-nc)
Spondias mombin leaf picture by Nelson Zamora Villalobos (cc-by-nc)

Flower

Spondias mombin flower picture by Calderón Caldas Douglas (cc-by-sa)
Spondias mombin flower picture by Calderón Caldas Douglas (cc-by-sa)
Spondias mombin flower picture by Nelson Zamora Villalobos (cc-by-nc)

Fruit

Spondias mombin fruit picture by Nelson Zamora Villalobos (cc-by-nc)
Spondias mombin fruit picture by Nelson Zamora Villalobos (cc-by-nc)
Spondias mombin fruit picture by Nelson Zamora Villalobos (cc-by-nc)

Distribution

Spondias mombin world distribution map, present in Angola, Anguilla, Antigua and Barbuda, Benin, Bonaire, Sint Eustatius and Saba, Burkina Faso, Belize, Bolivia (Plurinational State of), Brazil, Barbados, Central African Republic, Cameroon, Congo, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Cayman Islands, Ecuador, Gabon, Guinea, Guadeloupe, Guinea-Bissau, Equatorial Guinea, Grenada, Guatemala, French Guiana, Guyana, Honduras, Indonesia, Iceland, Jamaica, Saint Lucia, Sri Lanka, Mexico, Montserrat, Martinique, Malaysia, Nicaragua, Panama, Peru, Philippines, Puerto Rico, Sudan, El Salvador, South Sudan, Sao Tome and Principe, Suriname, Chad, Togo, Thailand, Trinidad and Tobago, United States of America, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Venezuela (Bolivarian Republic of), Viet Nam, and South Africa

Conservation status

Spondias mombin threat status: Least Concern

Identifiers

LSID urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:71480-1
WFO ID wfo-0000435470
COL ID 4Z9VD
BDTFX ID -
INPN ID 446896
Wikipedia (EN) Link
Wikipedia (FR) Link

Synonyms

Spondias maxima Spondias brasiliensis Spondias lutea Spondias dubia Spondias graveolens Spondias aurantiaca Spondias pseudomyrobalanus Spondias lutea var. maxima Spondias lutea var. glabra Mauria juglandifolia Spondias mombin var. mombin Spondias glabra Spondias mombin