Family: RutaceaeLocal name: Munukudu, Kaarunimma.Distribution: Limited to Indian subcontinent. Photographed at Eastren ghats of Nellore of India.Common in thorny scrubs and deciduous forests near foot hills .Small trees 2-3 mts high, branched with sharp short axilary spines. Leaves `-foliate. 3x1.5cm , ovate obong, coriaceous. Flowers .5-1ccm across pale yellow in axilary clusters. Berries 1.5-2.5cm in diam., globose green-orrange The oil from the fruit is used externally for rheumatism and paralysis. The leaves are also applied locally on knees to relieve knee pains. Reference: Flora of presidency of Madras by J.S Gamble, ENVIS, Flora of Nellore district By B.Suryanarayana &A.S Rao
Mnele, Ae, or SoapberrySapindaceae (Soapberry family)Indigenous to the Hawaiian Islands (Huallai, Mauna Loa, Klauea on Hawaii Island)Oahu (Cultivated)Apparently the pulp of the fruit was used by early Hawaiians as a soap for shampooing hair and washing clothes in the past.More at:NPH00008nativeplants.hawaii.edu/plant/view/Sapindus_saponaria
Lonomea, ulu, or Oahu soapberrySapindaceae (Soapberry family)Endemic to the Hawaiian Islands (only in meisic and dry forests of northwest Kauai and in the Waianae and Koolau mountains from Waimalu to Niu valleys on Oahu)IUCN: VulnerableOahu (Cultivated)FlowersGreen fruitswww.flickr.com/photos/dweickhoff/5187914267/in/dateposted/Ripe fruitswww.flickr.com/photos/dweickhoff/5187914211/in/photolist-...Habitwww.flickr.com/photos/dweickhoff/5187914415/in/photolist-...The roundish or oval fruits resemble dates and smell like figs or raisins, but are not edible. The very hard blackish seeds were used by early Hawaiians for medicinal purposes and to string for gorgeous permanent lei. Seeds lei are still made today.Early Hawaiians used the hard wood to make spears.EtymologyThe generic name Sapindus is derived from Latin sapo, or soap, and indicus, Indian. Crushed lonomea fruit makes a sudsy lather when mixed with water and was formerly used as a soap substitute, and thus aptly named the "soapberry tree."The specific epithet oahuensis is taken from the island of Oahu, one of two islands this species is naturally occurring.nativeplants.hawaii.edu/plant/view/Sapindus_oahuensis