Spondias purpurea
Red mombin (siwèl)
- Also called Purple mombin, Red mombin, Jocote, Spanish plum
- Haitian Creole Siwèl
- French Prune d'Espagne
Small deciduous tree, 3-8 m
What it is
Red mombin is a small, spreading tree in the cashew family. It loses its leaves in the dry season and then flowers on bare branches, with tiny red or purple flowers. Its fruits are like small plums, 2.5 to 5 cm, red, purple or yellow, with juicy sweet-sour flesh around a large stone. It is native from Mexico to northern South America and has long been grown across the Caribbean.
What it's used for
- The fruit is eaten fresh, ripe or half-ripe with salt, or cooked into drinks and preserves.
- Thick branches cut and pushed into the ground root easily, so it is widely used for living fences.
- It tolerates drought and poor soil, and its leaves can be fed to livestock.
Where we plant it
Our partners plant the mix of native species that suits each site and season, so a gift plants trees in the project rather than this one species. Spondias purpurea is one of the species planted there.
More trees planted in Pollinator Agroforestry in Haiti
Cassava (manyòk)Manihot esculenta
Mesquite or bayahondeProsopis juliflora
Spanish cedar (sèd)Cedrela odorata
Cacao, the chocolate treeTheobroma cacao
Sour orange (zoranj si)Citrus aurantium
Papaya (papay)Carica papaya
Arabica coffee (kafe)Coffea arabica
Avocado (zaboka)Persea americana
See all 16 species in Pollinator Agroforestry in Haiti
Other species we plant
Mangrove Restoration in Kenya
4 species
Rebuilding Oregon's Forests
5 species
Reforestation in Tamil Nadu, India
37 species
LimeberryBaheda or Beleric myrobalanBig-fruited jamunSouth Indian suregadaJamun, Naval or Black plumDevil pepper or Wild snakerootWoody-fruited PterospermumCork-leaved bayurVengai, Vijaysar or Indian kinoCeylon boxwoodCorky debbar treePanakka treeWinged naringi, a wild citrusPamburus, a wild citrus relativeElumbotti, the bone-knit shrubClimbing olaxBakul, Magizham or Spanish cherryKaya or Ironwood treeNotched-leaf spike thornPalai, Palu or KhirniPointed-leaf jasmineIndian screw tree or ValampuriGrewia, a dry-country shrubGrewia, a dry-forest shrubOrangeberry or KonjiGarlic fruit or Bitter garciniaHairy fig or PeyattiWild karanda or ConkerberryCansjera, a native forest climberShining bush-violetVagai or Siris treeUsilai or Krishna sirisChokkalai or Droopy leafWild lime or Kattu elumichaiKorinti, a custard-apple relativeIndian allophylus or TitberryLolly berry or Saptarangi
