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Western Soapberry - Sapindus drummondii
Soapberry was one of the trees I learned as a youth growing up on the dry
plains of central Oklahoma. But, dad called it chinaberry, not soapberry. This
bit of botanical misnaming has been common with many of the early explorers to
traverse the dry southwestern plains and seems to have begun as early as 1575
when Francisco Hernandez published his Historia de las Plantas de Neuva
Espana. While there may be some confusion in common names, the weedy
Chinaberry (Melia azedarach) and the Western Soapberry (Sapindus
drummondii) couldn’t be more different.
Western soapberry is a small deciduous tree about 30 feet tall belonging to
the soapberry family, a subtropical family of trees, shrubs and vines to which
golden raintree and lychee nut belongs. It ranges from northern Mexico through
Texas to Louisiana, north to Missouri and back to Arizona. In Arkansas it is
found in the southwestern counties and scattered along limestone bluffs in the
Ozarks, but is nowhere common. If grown alone the tree is usually round headed
with a spread about 80% of its height. The trunk is a tan colored with small
thin plates of bark that fall off easily, producing a patchwork of shades.
Though not mentioned by other writers, western soapberry tends to produce two
types of growth. Some seedlings produce free-standing trees which never sucker
while others tend to spread by underground rhizomes and form colonies akin to
sumac.
The foot long leaves are evenly, pinnately compound with 8 to 18 leaflets on
each leaf. The leaflets are leathery with entire margins and about three inches
long. Soapberry flowers in May and June after the leaves appear. The flowers are
small, greenish white panicles appearing at the tips of new shoots but are of
the "more interesting than beautiful" type.
The bunches of marble sized yellow-orange fruit which appear in the fall in
grape-like clusters are the most distinctive characteristic of western
soapberry. As the leaves fall in autumn, the translucent fruit shrivels around
the large black seed each berry contains. The fruit clusters persist through
most of the winter, turning black and falling as spring arrives.
The name Sapindus was given by Linnaeus to a related species from
tropical America which translates as "soap of the Indies". The leathery pulp of
soapberry contains up to 37% saponin and was, and still is in rural parts of
Mexico, used as a natural occurring soap. The first time I cleaned soapberry
seeds in a blender to remove the pulp, I was amazed at the volume of frothy soap
suds produced. My margaritas had a frothy head for weeks afterwards.
The species epitaph, drummondii, refers to the Scottish botanist
Thomas Drummond who made two collecting trips to North America. On his second
trip, from 1831 to 1835 he made two trips into Texas. No laggard, he anticipated
great success as a plant collector and had two tons of paper for pressing plant
specimens shipped to New Orleans for his use! His first trip into Texas in 1833
is called the year of the Great Overflow when much of central Texas was, just
like this year, under water. During this trip he collected the soapberry and his
most popular introduction, the annual phlox, Phlox drummondii. Drummond
died of an unknown illness in Cuba on his way home after surviving three
life-threatening diseases during his four-year stay in the steamy southland.
The western soapberry is not sold in the traditional retail nursery trade but
it is available from native plant nurseries. Its main contribution to the
landscape is its ability to survive in locations where a small, tough tree is
needed. The litter problem caused by the fruit should be considered when
selecting a planting site. Solitary plants are capable of producing seeds. Once
established it can be pretty much left to its own devices as it seems to have no
serious insect or disease problems. It pays no attention to drought and will
survive as well in an unirrigated planting strip in the middle of a parking lot
as in a more traditional landscape location. It is not recommended for areas
with wet, poorly drained soils but it seems to tolerate heavy clay soils well.
While usually found growing in near-neutral pH sites, it thrives in acidic soils
too. It should be grown in full sun.
This story first appeared in the
AR
Gardener Magazine.
By: Gerald Klingaman, retired
Extension Horticulturist - Ornamentals
Tree Profile - September 2002
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