Ximenia americana L.

  • Authority

    Acevedo-Rodríguez, Pedro & collaborators. 1996. Flora of St. John, U.S. Virgin Islands. Mem. New York Bot. Gard. 78: 1-581.

  • Family

    Olacaceae

  • Scientific Name

    Ximenia americana L.

  • Description

    Species Description - Shrub or small tree 2-7 m tall; bark reddish brown; twigs glabrous, furrowed, minutely papillose, becoming grayish at age. Leaf blades 2-6 x 1.2-3 cm, elliptic to ovate, chartaceous to coriaceous, glabrous, the apex retuse and mucronulate, the base obtuse to cuneate, the margins slightly revolute; petioles 5-7 mm long. Flowers in short, axillary, umbellate or fasciculate racemes. Calyx green, cup-shaped, minute, 3-4-toothed; petals white, linear, 7-11 mm long, pubescent within; stamens 8; ovary ovoid. Drupe ellipsoid to nearly globose, 2-3 cm long, yellow when mature.

  • Distribution

    An uncommon shrub of coastal thickets. Drunk Bay (W541). Also throughout tropical America and Africa.

    Guinea Africa|