Pithecellobium dulce (Roxb.)Benth.

Code

PIFDU

Growth form

Tree

Biological cycle

Perennial

Habitat

Terrestrial

Global description

Pithecellobium dulce is a tree up to 10 to 15 m tall, with small thorns on the trunk and all branches. Stipular spines in pairs 0.4 to 1.2 cm long. Leaves bipinnate, compound, alternate. A single pair of leaflets each having a single pair of asymmetrical, oval to oblong leaflets 2-4 cm long. A gland at the insertion of leaflets. Flowers greenish-white, sessile in pedunculated spherical heads, arranged in terminal panicles. The fruit is a dehiscent pod, green and red irregularly swollen, strangled between each seed, twisted and spirally wound, measuring up to 12 cm long and 1 to 2 cm wide. It contains 6 to 8 black seeds 1 cm in diameter, surrounded by a sweetish pulp of white or pinkish color.

Mayotte: Pithecelobium dulce flowers from June to January and fruits from July to February.
New Caledonia: The seeds of Pithecellobium dulce have a prolonged dormancy. Flowering occurs at the end of the rainy season followed by fruiting which continues in the cool season.

 

Pithecellobium dulce is a perennial species that reproduces by seed. Unusual for a legume, its fleshy and very colorful pods are attractive to birds that spread the seeds after eating the pulp. Pod pulp is edible to livestock and herbivores in general, which contribute to the spread of the species. The shrub is very resistant to fire and restart to grow quickly by emitting new aerial shoots or from the base after cutting.

Mayotte: Pithecellobium dulce is an exotic species cultivated for its edible aril and funiculus and planted as a reforestation species especially in dry area where it has become widely naturalized, particularly on sandy soils and near the coast.
New Caledonia: Pithecellobium dulce is locally naturalized in dry coastal areas because of its resistance to drought.
Réunion: The species grows in lowland dry thickets especially in the regions of Saint-Paul and Etang-salé.

 

Toxicity

During a slashing activity, you must pay attention to the sap of Pithecellobium dulce that causes irritation to the eyes and the skin.

Origin

Pithecellobium dulce native to Central America and the northern part of South America.

Worldwide distribution

This species has been disseminated, in Asia for its tannin, in Sahelian Africa as fodder (pods rich in proteins and energy), and for its agroforestry uses. It is present in many countries of the South Pacific and considered invasive in Hawaii, Fiji, Australia and Reunion.

New Caledonia: Pithecellobium dulce has been observed since the beginning of the 20th century in New Caledonia. It is generally considered as a secondary weed, and as an occasional forage.

New Caledonia: The expansion of Pithecellobium dulce must be monitored because it can constitute fairly dense thorny thickets in dry-zone pastures, where its control quickly becomes problematic because of its propagation capacity. The ground-level gyrogrinding before fruiting makes it possible to limit its expansion and the densification of the stands in formation. Their destruction is possible by combining mechanical control with chemical spray treatment on young shrubs (triclopyr). On older individuals, it is necessary to make a brush application of picloram + 2,4-D on freshly cut stump.

Herbarium pictures ReCOLNAT: https://explore.recolnat.org/search/botanique/simplequery=Pithecellobium%2520dulce