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| A young soapberry tree grows in Steve 's yard (Gadsden County in Florida's panhandle) where he enjoys its handsome foliage and unusual decorative fruits. |
Description
Soapberry is a small tree, growing to 30-40 ft (9-10 m) in height, with a rounded, usually symmetrical crown. The leaves are pinnately compound, about 12 in (30 cm) in length, and each of the 6-13 leaflets is about 4 in (10 cm) long. The leaves may be odd-pinnate (with a terminal leaflet) or even-pinnate (lacking a terminal leaflet), with both types often occurring on a single tree. Specimens from extreme southern Florida and tropical America have wings on the leaf rachis between the leaflets, and some authorities consider these southern trees to be the true Sapindus saponaria (tropical soapberry) and the soapberries from northern Florida and along the Coastal Plain to South Carolina to be S. marginatus (Florida soapberry). We'll lump them both as one species for the purpose of this profile. Soapberry leaves are generally deciduous, but may be semi-evergreen in tropical climates. The inflorescence is a triangular shaped panicle almost a foot (30 cm) long, containing very many small creamy white flowers. The showy flower cluster is borne at the tip of a current year's shoot, and spells the end of elongation for that particular shoot. The fruit is a weird looking orange-brown, partially translucent, globular, leathery, drupelike affair (called a soap nut) about 3/4 in (2 cm) across. Each fruit contains a single black seed. The fruits often persist on the tree for months and can be considered attractive in their own right.
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| In spring the soapberry produces tiny blossoms that are arranged in a cluster called a panicle. |
Location
Soapberry is usually found growing in calcareous woodlands, hammocks, and coastal scrub, often in the vicinity of Indian shell mounds near the coast. Sapindus saponaria (including S. marginatus) ranges from coastal South...
Author: Steve Christman
Copyright 1996 - 2009
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