The ''Pometia pinnata'' is a tropical

hardwood Hardwood is wood from Flowering plant, angiosperm trees. These are usually found in broad-leaved temperate and tropical forests. In temperate and boreal ecosystem, boreal latitudes they are mostly deciduous, but in tropics and subtropics mostl ...

tree species that is widespread in the

Pacific The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean, or, depending on the definition, to Antarctica in the south, and is bounded by the cont ...

and

Southeast Asian Southeast Asia is the geographical southeastern region of Asia, consisting of the regions that are situated south of China, east of the Indian subcontinent, and northwest of the Australian mainland, which is part of Oceania. Southeast Asia is ...

regions. The tree species has many common names, including Matoa, Taun tree, Island lychee, Tava, and Pacific lychee. The species comes from the

Sapindaceae The Sapindaceae are a family (biology), family of flowering plants in the order Sapindales known as the soapberry family. It contains 138 genera and 1,858 accepted species. Examples include Aesculus, horse chestnut, maples, ackee and lychee. The ...

family and comes from the

clade In biology, a clade (), also known as a Monophyly, monophyletic group or natural group, is a group of organisms that is composed of a common ancestor and all of its descendants. Clades are the fundamental unit of cladistics, a modern approach t ...

s of Tracheophytes, Angiosperms, and the order Sapindales.

Characteristics

The hardwood tree species occurs and grows in a wide variety of habitats and vegetation. The size of the tree varies, ranging from tall with a wide

canopy Canopy may refer to: Plants * Canopy (biology), aboveground portion of plant community or crop (including forests) * Canopy (grape), aboveground portion of grapes Religion and ceremonies * Baldachin or canopy of state, typically placed over an a ...

. The tree grows an average of per year. Its canopy is made up of lush, evergreen leaves that create wide coverage. ''Pometia pinnata'' is a fruiting and flowering species, and it produces white to green-yellow flowers. The male and female flowers are similar in size and color, so it is hard to differentiate between them. They grow in long stalks, in length, and produce flowers that can potentially fruit. The fruiting process takes 2–3 months and the fruit is green-yellow when developing. They are under developed when the fruit is tough and fleshy. When it is ripe and edible, the fruit will turn red-black in color, and become softer in texture. The species is also self-pruning, and can reproduce rapidly even in

tropical forest Tropical forests are forested ecoregions with tropical climates – that is, land areas approximately bounded by the Tropic of Cancer, tropics of Cancer and Tropic of Capricorn, Capricorn, but possibly affected by other factors such as prevailing ...

Habitat and range

''Pometia pinnata'' is a widespread type of timber tree species. The species originated from

Sri Lanka Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, also known historically as Ceylon, is an island country in South Asia. It lies in the Indian Ocean, southwest of the Bay of Bengal, separated from the Indian subcontinent, ...

and the

Andaman Islands The Andaman Islands () are an archipelago, made up of 200 islands, in the northeastern Indian Ocean about southwest off the coasts of Myanmar's Ayeyarwady Region. Together with the Nicobar Islands to their south, the Andamans serve as a mari ...

through

Southeast Asia Southeast Asia is the geographical United Nations geoscheme for Asia#South-eastern Asia, southeastern region of Asia, consisting of the regions that are situated south of China, east of the Indian subcontinent, and northwest of the Mainland Au ...

. The ''pinnata'' species also inhabits

New Guinea New Guinea (; Hiri Motu: ''Niu Gini''; , fossilized , also known as Papua or historically ) is the List of islands by area, world's second-largest island, with an area of . Located in Melanesia in the southwestern Pacific Ocean, the island is ...

and other

Pacific islands The Pacific islands are a group of islands in the Pacific Ocean. They are further categorized into three major island groups: Melanesia, Micronesia, and Polynesia. Depending on the context, the term ''Pacific Islands'' may refer to one of several ...

. It grows naturally in warm to hot, humid subtropical and tropical zones, with a typical elevation of . The trees need an annual rainfall of . The species has a natural, native range in the Asian-Pacific region of the globe. The Tava species is native throughout the island of

Borneo Borneo () is the List of islands by area, third-largest island in the world, with an area of , and population of 23,053,723 (2020 national censuses). Situated at the geographic centre of Maritime Southeast Asia, it is one of the Greater Sunda ...

. The plant species has a range of distribution that keeps growing, but not invasive. It is modernly distributed to New Caledonia, eastern Polynesia, and the North Pacific islands, like Hawai'i.

Possible benefits and threats

Residents of the Pacific islands benefit from the fruiting tree. They are able to collect the freshly produced fruit from the trees and collect timber for logging and trades. ''Pometia pinnata'' has a very low invasive potential, and the species spreads and distributes naturally throughout the Pacific Islands. The only other possible threat to the species is a risk of defoliation in specific regions of the

South Pacific The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five Borders of the oceans, oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean, or, depending on the definition, to Antarctica in the south, and is ...

. Meaning that its leaves could suffer from a shot-holed appearance. It does not necessarily kill the trees, but does occur when the tree is becoming fully mature.

Mitigation and control

The control and mitigation of the species is fairly easy and straightforward.

Papua New Guinea Papua New Guinea, officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea, is an island country in Oceania that comprises the eastern half of the island of New Guinea and offshore islands in Melanesia, a region of the southwestern Pacific Ocean n ...

's constitution protects all aspects of wildlife and nature, including ''Pometia pinnata''. In other locations of this species, the trees are protected as well. The species is a major resource to its countries of origin and will be protected as an asset.

References

General references

*
''Pometia pinnata'' f. ''glabra''

Sapindaceae Flora of tropical Asia Trees of the Pacific Austronesian agriculture {{sapindales-stub