Melicoccus bijugatus (Introduced)

Melicoccus bijugatus Jacq., Enum. Syst. Pl. 19 1760. (Syn: Melicocca bijuga L. [Illegitimate]; Melicocca carpoodea Juss.; Melicoccus bijugatus f. alata Kitan.; Melicoccus bijugatus f. alatus Kitan.; Stadmannia bijuga D.Dietr. [Illegitimate]);

Costa Rica, Panama, Colombia (Antioquia, Bolvar, Cesar, Choc, Crdoba,
Cundinamarca, Huila, La Guajira, Magdalena, Quindo, San Andrs, Providencia y
Santa Catalina, Sucre, Tolima, Valle), Venezuela (Anzoategui, Aragua, Bolivar,
Carabobo, Distrito Federal, Falcon, Guarico, Lara, Merida, Miranda, Nueva
Esparta, Tachira, Zulia), N-Brazil (I), Guyana (I), Surinam (I), French Guiana?
(I), Belize (I), Bahamas (I), Turks & Caicos Isl. (I), Cayman Isl. (I), Cuba
(I), Jamaica (I), Hispaniola (I), Puerto Rico (I), Virgin Isl. (I) (Guana (I),
Jost van Dyke (I), St. Croix (I), St. John (I), St. Thomas (I), Tortola (I),
Virgin Gorda (I)), Lesser Antilles (I) (Anguilla (I), Antigua (I), Barbados (I),
Barbuda (I), Dominica (I), Guadeloupe (I), Martinique (I), Saba (I), St.
Barthelemy (I), St. Eustatius (I), St. Lucia (I), St. Martin (I)), Trinidad
& Tobago (I), Cook Isl. (I) (Rarotonga (I)), Society Isl. (I) (Tahiti (I),
Moorea (I)), Tuamotu Arch. (I) (Makatea Isl. (I), Takapoto Atoll (I)), Marquesas
Isl. (I) (Hiva Oa (I), Fatu Hiva (I)), USA (Florida (I)), Vietnam (I), Taiwan
(I), trop. Africa (I), Cameroon (I), Burkina Faso (I), Benin (I) as per Catalogue of Life;

Melicoccus bijugatus, commonly called Spanish lime, genip, guinep, genipe, ginepa, quenepa, quenepe, chenet, canepa, mamon, limoncillo, skinip or mamoncillo,[1][2][3] is a fruit-bearing tree in the soapberry family Sapindaceae, native or naturalized across the New World tropics including South and Central America, Tobago, Haiti, Puerto Rico, Dominican Republic, Cuba, Jamaica and other parts of the Caribbean.

Trees can reach heights of up to 25 m and come with alternate, compound leaves. The leaves have 4 elliptic leaflets which are 5-12.5 cm long and 2.5–5 cm (1-2 in.) wide. They are typically dioecious plants however polygamous trees occur from time to time. Flowers have 4 petals and 8 stamens and produce void, green drupes which are 2.5–4 cm long and 2 cm wide. Their pulp is orange, salmon or yellowish in color with a somewhat juicy and pasty texture.
This fruit can be sweet or sour. In the southern areas of Mexico, it is generally eaten with chili powder, salt, and lime. The sweet varieties are generally eaten without condiments of any kind.[citation needed]

Being tropical, M. bijugatus prefers warmer temperatures. Its leaves can be damaged if the temperature hits the freezing point, with serious damage occurring below -4°C.[citation needed]
It is grown and cultivated for its ovoid, green fruit, which grow in bunches.[4] The fruit, somewhat like a cross between a lychee and a lime, has a tight and thin, but rigid layer of skin, traditionally opened by biting into with the teeth. Inside the skin is the tart, tangy, creamy pulp (technically the seed coat, or aril), which is sucked by putting the whole fruit inside the mouth (hence the name mamoncillo as mamar means “to suck”) because the seed takes most of the volume of what is inside the skin. Despite the light color of the fruit’s flesh, the juice stains a dark brown color, and was often used by indigenous Arawak natives to dye cloth.[citation needed]
The species is also commonly planted along roadsides as an ornamental tree.[4]

(From Wikipedia on 18.4.16)

Leaf peripinnate. Leaf rachis some what little bit flattened. Flowers having 4-sepals, 4-petals and 8-stamens inserted at the disc. Petals margins hairy. This tree is flowered for the first time and is attained a height of about 5-6 meters. All flowers looks like male. No fruit set occurred. This plant apparently looks like a member of family Sapindaceae but I am unable to identify it.

This tree is from Mumbai and has been Identified as Melicoccus bijugatus Jacq. (Sapindaceae)




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