''Sapindus'' is a genus of about five to twelve species of

shrub A shrub (often also called a bush) is a small-to-medium-sized perennial woody plant. Unlike herbaceous plants, shrubs have persistent woody stems above the ground. Shrubs can be either deciduous or evergreen. They are distinguished from trees ...

s and small

tree In botany, a tree is a perennial plant with an elongated stem, or trunk, usually supporting branches and leaves. In some usages, the definition of a tree may be narrower, including only woody plants with secondary growth, plants that are ...

s in the

lychee Lychee (US: ; UK: ; ''Litchi chinensis''; ) is a Monotypic taxon, monotypic taxon and the sole member in the genus ''Litchi'' in the Sapindus, soapberry family, ''Sapindaceae''. It is a tropical tree native to Southeast and Southwest China (t ...

family,

Sapindaceae The Sapindaceae are a family of flowering plants in the order Sapindales known as the soapberry family. It contains 138 genera and 1858 accepted species. Examples include horse chestnut, maples, ackee and lychee. The Sapindaceae occur in tempera ...

, native to warm

temperate In geography, the temperate climates of Earth occur in the middle latitudes (23.5° to 66.5° N/S of Equator), which span between the tropics and the polar regions of Earth. These zones generally have wider temperature ranges throughout t ...

tropical The tropics are the regions of Earth surrounding the Equator. They are defined in latitude by the Tropic of Cancer in the Northern Hemisphere at N and the Tropic of Capricorn in the Southern Hemisphere at S. The tropics are also referred to ...

regions of the world. The genus includes both

deciduous In the fields of horticulture and Botany, the term ''deciduous'' () means "falling off at maturity" and "tending to fall off", in reference to trees and shrubs that seasonally shed leaves, usually in the autumn; to the shedding of petals, aft ...

and

evergreen In botany, an evergreen is a plant which has foliage that remains green and functional through more than one growing season. This also pertains to plants that retain their foliage only in warm climates, and contrasts with deciduous plants, which ...

species. Members of the genus are commonly known as soapberries or soapnuts because the fruit pulp is used to make

soap Soap is a salt of a fatty acid used in a variety of cleansing and lubricating products. In a domestic setting, soaps are surfactants usually used for washing, bathing, and other types of housekeeping. In industrial settings, soaps are use ...

. The generic name is derived from the

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

words ''sapo'', meaning "soap", and ''indicus'', meaning "of

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

". The

leaves A leaf (plural, : leaves) is any of the principal appendages of a vascular plant plant stem, stem, usually borne laterally aboveground and specialized for photosynthesis. Leaves are collectively called foliage, as in "autumn foliage", wh ...

are alternate, long,

pinnate Pinnation (also called pennation) is the arrangement of feather-like or multi-divided features arising from both sides of a common axis. Pinnation occurs in biological morphology, in crystals, such as some forms of ice or metal crystals, and in ...

(except in ''S. oahuensis'', which has simple leaves), with 14-30 leaflets, the terminal leaflet often absent. The

flower A flower, sometimes known as a bloom or blossom, is the reproductive structure found in flowering plants (plants of the division Angiospermae). The biological function of a flower is to facilitate reproduction, usually by providing a mechani ...

s form in large

panicle A panicle is a much-branched inflorescence. (softcover ). Some authors distinguish it from a compound spike inflorescence, by requiring that the flowers (and fruit) be pedicellate (having a single stem per flower). The branches of a panicle are of ...

s, each flower small, creamy white. The

fruit In botany, a fruit is the seed-bearing structure in flowering plants that is formed from the ovary after flowering. Fruits are the means by which flowering plants (also known as angiosperms) disseminate their seeds. Edible fruits in particu ...

is a small leathery-skinned

drupe In botany, a drupe (or stone fruit) is an indehiscent fruit in which an outer fleshy part (exocarp, or skin, and mesocarp, or flesh) surrounds a single shell (the ''pit'', ''stone'', or '' pyrena'') of hardened endocarp with a seed (''kernel'') ...

in diameter, yellow ripening blackish, containing one to three

seed A seed is an embryonic plant enclosed in a protective outer covering, along with a food reserve. The formation of the seed is a part of the process of reproduction in seed plants, the spermatophytes, including the gymnosperm and angiospe ...

Uses

Sapindus emarginatus in Hyderabad W IMG 4650

The drupes (soapnuts) contain saponins, which have surfactant properties, having been used for washing by ancient Asian and American peoples. A number of other uses for ''Sapindus'' have also been reported such making arrows from the wood and decorative objects from the seeds.

Folk medicine

Leaf and fruit extracts of ''Sapindus'' have historically been used in Folk medicine, folk remedies to treat various conditions.

Insecticide

''Sapindus'' species are used as food plants by the Caterpillar, larvae of some Lepidoptera (moths and butterflies) species including ''Endoclita malabaricus''. Kernel extracts of soapnut disrupt the activity of enzymes of larvae and pupae and inhibits the growth of the mosquito ''Aedes aegypti'', an important Vector (epidemiology), vector of viral diseases.

Dyeing agent

Soapnut is used as a dyeing agent for coloring the yarn of Tussar silk and cotton.

Species

Sapindus emarginatus in Hyderabad W2 IMG 4648

The number of species is disputed between different authors, particularly in North America where between one and three species are accepted. * ''Sapindus delavayi'' (China, India) * ''Sapindus detergens'' (synonym (taxonomy), syn. var. ''Soapnut, Ritha'') * ''Sapindus emarginatus'' Martin Vahl (botanist), Vahl (Southern Asia) * ''Sapindus laurifolius'' Vahl – Ritha (India) * ''Sapindus marginatus'' Willd. – Florida Soapberry (Florida to South Carolina); included in ''S. saponaria'' by some authors. * ''Sapindus mukorossi'' Joseph Gaertner, Gaertn. – Indian Soapberry (

east to the Himalayas) * ''Sapindus oahuensis'' William Hillebrand, Hillebr. ex Ludwig Adolph Timotheus Radlkofer, Radlk. – Lonomea (Kauai, Kauaʻi and Oahu, Oʻahu, Hawaii) * ''Sapindus rarak'' Augustin Pyramus de Candolle, DC. (Southeast Asia) * ''Sapindus saponaria'' L. **S. s. var. ''drummondii'' (Hook. & Arn.) L.D.Benson – Western Soapberry (southwestern United States, Mexico) **''S. s.'' var. ''saponaria'' – Wingleaf Soapberry (southeastern United States, Caribbean, Hawaii (island), island of Hawaiʻi, Central America, Central and South America) * ''Sapindus tomentosus'' (China) * ''Sapindus trifoliatus'' L. – South India Soapnut or Three-leaf Soapberry (Southern

, Pakistan) * ''Sapindus vitiensis'' Asa Gray, A.Gray (American Samoa, Samoa, Fiji)

Formerly placed here

*''Lepisanthes fruticosa'' (Roxb.) Leenh. (as ''S. fruticosus'' Roxb.) *''Lepisanthes senegalensis'' (Juss. ex Poir.) Leenh. (as ''S. senegalensis'' Juss. ex Poir.) *''Lepisanthes tetraphylla'' (Vahl) Radlk. (as ''S. tetraphylla'' Vahl) *''Talisia cerasina'' (Benth.) Radlk. (as ''S. cerasinus'' Benth.) *''Talisia esculenta'' (A.St.-Hil.) Radlk. (as ''S. esculenta'' A.St.-Hil.)

References

External links

Flora of India: ''Sapindus''

Flora of Pakistan: ''Sapindus''

Flora of China: ''Sapindus'' species list
{{Taxonbar, from=Q321451 Sapindus, Sapindaceae genera Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus