Sapindus saponaria

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Sapindus saponaria
Sapindus saponaria var. saponaria (4999557990).jpg
Sapindus saponaria tree
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Rosids
Order: Sapindales
Family: Sapindaceae
Genus: Sapindus
Species:
S. saponaria
Binomial name
Sapindus saponaria
Varieties

S. s. var. drummondii
S. s. var. saponaria

Sapindus saponaria is a small to medium-sized deciduous tree [3] native to the Americas. Common names include rocky mountain maple, [4] wingleaf soapberry, [5] western soapberry, jaboncillo, [2] sulluku [6] [7] [8] and manele and a'e (Hawaiian). [9] Its genus name, Sapindus, comes from the Latin, meaning Indian soap, and its specific epithet means "soapy". [3]

Contents

Western Soapberry is closely related to the maple family of trees. [4] [10]

Although western soapberry lumber is not harvested commercially due to its rarity, it was highly esteemed in the recent past by indigenous ethnic groups like the Plains Apache, for its hardness and resilience.

Western soapberry is classified as a "least concern" species, and due to its hardiness, it thrives in regions with poor soil and extreme drought. However, agricultural development threatens the existence of certain local communities in south-central Oklahoma. [11]

The fruit of western soapberry is mildy toxic if ingested orally, due to the high saponin content. [11] The high saponin content also allows for the fruit to be used as a form of lathering soap. [11] Despite the mild oral toxicity, the fruits of soapberry species may have topical health benefits. [11]

Taxonomy

Plants of the World Online [12]
Sapindus

'S. saponaria var. saponaria (syn. S. marginatus ) Willd.

S. saponaria var. inaequalisRadlk.

S. saponaria var. jardinianaF.Br.

'S. saponaria var. thurstonii(Rock) Skottsb.

Note: "Sapindus saponaria is a synonym of the restored species Sapindus drummondii . It is called "Western soapberry" [13] and is native from Arizona [14] to Louisiana in the south ranging north to Kansas and far southwestern Missouri in the north. It is also native to the states of Sonora, Chihuahua, and Coahuila in Mexico. [3]

Distribution

This species has a very wide native range throughout the Americas, ranging from Kansas (with isolated populations known as far north as Montana, Colorado, and Missouri) east to Florida and the West Indies, and south to Paraguay. Populations are also known from isolated oceanic islands, including Clarion Island, the Galápagos Islands, and the Hawaiian Islands. [1]

Description

It often grows in clumps or thickets reaching about 20 ft. (6.1 m) in height in the western part of its range. Solitary trees though can grow as tall as 50 ft. (15.2 m) in height. In the western part of its range it is most often found growing at the head of prairie ravines, the margins of woodlands, the edges of fields or on rocky hillsides.

The leaves of the soapberry are alternate, pinnately compound, thick and leathery but deciduous, 8 in. (20 cm) to 15 in. (38 cm) in length, made up of 6 to 20 narrow lanceolate leaflets with smooth margins, long tapered tips, and uneven wedge-shaped bases which are 2 in. to 5 in. (5 cm to 13 cm) long and .75 in. to 1.5 in. (2 cm to  cm) wide. Midveins on leaves of var. saponaria are mostly winged, while those of var. drummondii are never winged.

The inflorescence are dense terminal panicles of small white flowers 6 in. to 10 in (15 cm to 20 cm) long. Flowering occurs in May–June for var. drummondii and in November for var. saponaria.

The fruit occur in large pyramidal clusters at the ends of branches. Each golden colored fruit is between 1.2 in. to 1.4 in. (3 cm to 3.6 cm) in diameter and becomes translucent and wrinkled when fully mature and contains a single black seed about .35 in (9 mm) in diameter. Fruits of var. drummondii ripen in October and often remain on the tree until spring, while those of var. saponaria ripen in spring.

The twigs of var. drummondii are gray-brown and hairy with short tan colored hairs while those of var. saponaria are gray and hairless. Buds on var. drummondii are small dark brown and hairy while those on var. saponaria are small brown and hairless.

The trunk of var. drummondii has light gray, scaly with thin plate like bark and sometimes shallowly furrowed while var. saponaria has gray to reddish colored scaly bark.

Western soapberry has a emarkable yellow-colored sapwood which contrasts sharply with the heartwood. [15] In the Plains Apache language, the wood was called chishłítsowe, meaning 'yellow wood'. [15]

Uses

Western soapberry wood is very hard, heavy, elastic and close-grained -- properties that give the tree excellent resistance to the extreme winds of the southern Great Plains. [16] [15] For these reasons, the wood was highly esteemed by the indigenous Plains Apache people of Oklahoma, who used it make tent poles, bows and arrows, and tool handles. [15] It was said that tent poles made from the branches of this wood would "last indefinitely", if seasoned. [15]

The fruits can contain as much as 37% of saponin, and when macerated in water they produce a soapy lather. [17] Formerly, they were much used in Mexico and in other regions for laundering clothes. [17]

The dark round seeds are made into buttons and necklaces. The wood splits easily and is made into baskets. [18]

Toxicity

The fruit of Sapindus saponaria var. drummondii are poisonous and can cause skin rashes; [18] they have been used to stupefy fish. [19] The foliage may also be toxic to livestock. [18]

Notable specimens

One of the tallest drummondii specimens is located in southern Johnson County, Kansas, and measures 59 ft. (18 m) tall, with a 39 ft. (11.9 m) wide crown spread. Its trunk circumference was 10 1/2 ft. (3.2 m) in. at 4 1/2 ft. (1.4 m). [20]

One of the largest saponaria variants is located in Hawaii County, Hawaii, and measures 71 ft. (21.6 m) tall, with a 68 ft. (20.7 m) wide crown spread. Its trunk circumference was 160.5 inches (408 cm) at 4 1/2 ft. (1.4 m). [21]

References

  1. 1 2 IUCN SSC Global Tree Specialist Group & Botanic Gardens Conservation International (BGCI) (2020). "Sapindus saponaria". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species . 2020 e.T156771087A156771089. doi: 10.2305/IUCN.UK.2020-1.RLTS.T156771087A156771089.en . Retrieved 27 June 2022.
  2. 1 2 "Sapindus saponaria". Germplasm Resources Information Network . Agricultural Research Service, United States Department of Agriculture . Retrieved 2010-11-02.
  3. 1 2 3 Matt Turner (2009). Remarkable Plants of Texas: Uncommon Accounts of Our Common Natives (Corrie Herring Hooks Series). Austin: University of Texas Press. pp. 95–97. ISBN   978-0-292-71851-7.
  4. 1 2 "Rocky Mountain Maple – Colorado Master Gardener". cmg.extension.colostate.edu.
  5. ↑ NRCS. "Sapindus saponaria". PLANTS Database. United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). Retrieved 5 November 2015.
  6. ↑ Hugo E. Delgado Sumar, Los recursos curativos vegetales en la medicina tradicional peruana
  7. ↑ Louis Girault, Kallawaya - guérisseurs itinérants des Andes. Recherches sur les pratiques médicinales et magiques. Paris 1984. p. 301. Cholokke, Sulluku (K). Sapindus saponaria
  8. ↑ César del Solar Meza, Rainer Hostnig (2006): Litograbados indígenas en la arquitectura colonial del Departamento del Cusco, Perú
  9. ↑ "Sapindus saponaria". Hawaiian Native Plant Propagation Database. University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa. Retrieved 2010-11-02.
  10. ↑ "Sapindaceae Soapberry Family, Southwest Desert Flora". southwestdesertflora.com.
  11. 1 2 3 4 "Sapindus saponaria var. drummondii". www.fs.usda.gov.
  12. ↑ Plants of the World Online: Sapindus saponaria L. (retrieved 25 February 2024)
  13. ↑ "Sapindus saponaria var. drummondii". Integrated Taxonomic Information System . Retrieved 2010-11-02.
  14. ↑ McNair, D.M.; Andresen, S. (2020). "Soapberry (Sapindus L.) in Arizona" (PDF). Phytoneuron: 1–23.
  15. 1 2 3 4 5 Jordan, Julia A. (22 October 2014). Plains Apache Ethnobotany. University of Oklahoma Press. p. 160. ISBN   978-0-8061-8581-1.
  16. ↑ "Western Soapberry" (PDF). UFL.
  17. 1 2 Standley, Paul C.; Blake, S. F. (1923). "Trees and Shrubs of Mexico (Oxalidaceae-Turneraceae)". Contributions from the United States National Herbarium. 23 (3). Washington, D.C.: Department of Botany, Smithsonian Institution: 709. JSTOR   23492504.
  18. 1 2 3 Little, Elbert L. (1994) [1980]. The Audubon Society Field Guide to North American Trees: Western Region (Chanticleer Press ed.). Knopf. p. 543. ISBN   0-394-50761-4.
  19. ↑ Peattie, Donald Culross (1953). A Natural History of Western Trees. New York: Bonanza Books. p. 628.
  20. ↑ American Forests (2007). "Western Soapberry Record" . Retrieved June 29, 2012.
  21. ↑ American Forests (2017). "Wingleaf Soapberry Record" . Retrieved November 28, 2020.
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