Schinus polygama (Cav.) Cabrera

Raab-Straube, Eckhard von & Raus, Thomas, 2024, Euro + Med-Checklist Notulae, 17, Willdenowia 54 (1), pp. 5-45 : 8

Schinus polygama (Cav.) Cabrera

(≡ Amyris polygama Cav. ) – Fig. 2.

A Tn: Tunisia: Jendouba, Aïn Draham, 36°46'46"N, 08°41'11"E, 720 m, roadsides beneath walls of old buildings, 17 Oct 2021, El Mokni (herb. Univ. Monastir).

– As part of ongoing studies on updating the list of alien Anacardiaceae in Tunisia (El Mokni 2019), Schinus polygama is here reported for the first time for the adventitious Tunisian flora (Henning & Raab-Straube 2016+a; APD 2023) where it seems to have recently escaped from cultivation and therefore can be considered as a local casual alien. Admitting that known varieties of S. polygama are connected with each other on intermediate macromorphological features, collected Tunisian material shows predominately an overflowered infructescence with dark purple fruits and is rather assigned to S. polygama var. parviflora (Marchand) F. A. Barkley (vs fewflowered inflorescence with black fruits in var. chilensis F. A. Barkley; cf. Barkley 1944: 176). Schinus L. species are distributed in Argentina, Bolivia, Chile and Peru, where they can be found in the inter-Andean valleys and Andean cloud forests as well as at low altitudes in SE to NE Argentina, extending into Uruguay, Paraguay and S Brazil; few endemic Chilean species occur in sclerophyllous forests in a Mediterranean climate (Silva Luz & al. 2019, 2022). In particular Schinus areira L., S. molle L., S. terebinthifolia Raddi (commonly known as pepper trees) and S. polygama have become invasive species outside their native range (Silva Luz & al. 2022); the latter has a native range from Chile to Mendoza in Argentina (POWO 2023). It is a dioecious shrub or tree growing to 3(–5) m tall, with simple leaves and reddish, pink to purple globose, obovoid drupes. The species was introduced to California and Tajikistan (POWO 2023) and to Brazil, Uruguay, the Iberian Peninsula, Belgium and New Zealand (GBIF 2023). In Africa, it was reported only in the Maghreb countries of Morocco and Algeria (GBIF 2023), however with “unknown status”. An analytical key is proposed here for the adventitious species of the genus Schinus in Africa (derived from Miller & Wilken 2012; NSW Flora Online 2023).

Figures

Fig. 2. Schinus polygama, fruiting branches. – Tunisia, Jendouba, Aïn Draham, 17 Oct 2021, photograph by R. El Mokni.