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Clusia rosea
Clusiaceae FAMILY

Clusia rosea

Clusia rosea

Edibility
0/5
Medicinal
2/5

Safety & Hazards

The ball-like fruits are not edible and are considered to be poisonous, though they are eaten by bats[1].

Cultivation Details

HabitEvergreen Tree
Growth—

Succeeds in full sun to partial shade[2]. Prefers a well-drained soil[2].Plants can thrive in a variety of environments, from dry barren lava landscapes to steep cliffs in wet areas[3]. Established plants are drought tolerant, and can also tolerate periodic inundation of the soil[4]. The heavy foliage is salt tolerant and so this species can be grown in exposed positions near the coast[1]. Often grown as an ornamental, plants can spread readily into surrounding areas, presumably due to bird-dispersed seeds. It has become invasive in some areas and this, coupled with the tree's habit of strangling and killing more valuable trees in the forest, has led to it being classed as a forest pest[5, 1, 3]. This species uses the ' Crassulacean Acid Metabolism' (CAM) pathway to photosynthesis, a mechanism which aids in conserving moisture. This type of mechanism is also used by cacti and other succulents. In Clusia, CAM is useful during the epiphytic seedling stage until aerial roots are able to reach the ground and draw up nutrients and moisture[3]. This species is unique in that it belongs to the only genus of plants capable of absorbing carbon dioxide during the night[6]. The plant can be in flower or fruit all year round[1]. A dioecious species, both male and female forms need to be grown if fruit and seed are require[1]. One report says that only functionally female flowers are known and that the tree produces seed apomictically (an asexual process)[4].

Propagation

Seed - Cuttings Air layering Cite as: Tropical Plants Database, Ken Fern. tropical.theferns.info. 2026-02-20. <tropical.theferns.info/viewtropical.php?id=Clusia+rosea>

Pollinators

Bats

References

  1. [1]Common Trees of Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands — Little E.L.; Wadsworth F.H. · USDA, Forest Service; Washington. · 1964 ↩︎Contains detailed information, and usually an illustration, on 250 tree species, including both native and exotic species.
  2. [2]Tropical Ornamentals; A Guide — Whistler. W. Arthur. · Timber Press Inc. Oregon. · 2000 · ISBN 0-88192-448-2 ↩︎An excellent little guide to some of the more commonly cultivated ornamental plants of the Tropics, often giving some information on the plants other uses.
  3. [3]Plants of Hawaii — Starr F.; Starr K.; Loope L. · United States Geological Survey--Biological Resources Division; · 2003 · http://www.hear.org/starr/hiplants/reports/ ↩︎Fairly detailed reports on 92 plants found growing in Hawaii, often giving plant uses. Produced in PDF format, they can be downloaded from the Internet.
  4. [4]Tropical Flowering Plants. A Guide to Identification and Cultivation. — Llamas K.A. · Timber Press; Oregon. · 2003 · ISBN 0-88192-585-3 ↩︎A terse guide for the gardener to almost 1,500 species of ornamental tropical plants with brief details on their cultivation and, usually, a small photograph of good quality.
  5. [5]Pacific Island Ecosystems at Risk — http://www.hear.org/pier/scientificnames/index.html ↩︎A very good website detailing weed species that have been introduced into the Pacific Islands.
  6. [6]Jardineiro.Net — http://www.jardineiro.net/br/index.php ↩︎A Brazilian gardening site, giving cultivation details for a large number of species.
  7. [7]Flowers of India — http://www.flowersofindia.net/ ↩︎A wed site of native Indian plants, plus cultivated and naturalized species. It has good quality photos and terse details on more than 3,000 species and cultivars.
  8. [8]Medicinal Plants of the Guianas — DeFilipps, R. A.; Maina, S. L.; & Crepin, J. · Smithsonian Museum · http://botany.si.edu/bdg/medicinal/index.html ↩︎A down-loadable PDF document of a book in pre-publication awaiting illustration. An excellent, if rather terse, guide to the traditional medicinal uses of the plants of the region
  9. [9]South American Timbers: the Properties, Uses and Characteristics of 190 Species. — Bolza. E. & Christensen. F.J. · Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization · 1979 · ISBN 0 643 02582 0 ↩︎A very useful guide.
  10. [PFAF]Plants for a Future — pfaf.org ↩︎