Soapberries – FranLaff.com

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Common Name

Soapberries

Scientific Name

Sapindus spp.

More Clues to ID

This genus contains about a dozen species of shrubs and small trees, each with fruits that can be used to make a lathering soap.

The fruits (drupes often called soap nuts) of this genus contain saponins – good for making a lathering soap.

Lepisanthes_or_Sapindus_tetraphylla_DSC02600_AJTJ

Sapindus_saponaria_var._saponaria_(4831880407)

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Learn about this species:

All but one species in this genus have alternate, pinnately compound leaves, often with no terminal leaflet. The one which does not has simple leaves and is found only in Hawaii.

Image Credits

A. J. T. Johnsingh, WWF-India and NCF, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Salil Kumar Mukherjee, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Vinayaraj, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Vinayaraj, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Hiobson, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Hiobson, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
André Koehne, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
David Eickhoff from Pearl City, Hawaii, USA, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
João Medeiros, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Forest & Kim Starr, CC BY 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
David Eickhoff from Pearl City, Hawaii, USA, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

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This low-growing plant looks, smells, and tastes like onion and is served in US cuisine

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This black-white-and-grey bird points its slender bill downwards - or tilts it comically upwards - as it spirals face-first down tree trunks and round ...

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