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Sapindus oahuensis; photograph author not stated, no rights reserved CC0author not stated, no rights reserved · observed growing wild · 2026-09-25

Sapindus oahuensis Hillebr. ex Radlk.

Sapindaceae · Hawaii

Cited as Kew's World Checklist cites it, Sapindus oahuensis Hillebr. ex Radlk.: GBIF's backbone key for this page carries the name with another author, Hillebr.

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Sapindus oahuensis, photograph (c) Brynn Fricke, some rights reserved (CC BY)Sapindus oahuensis, photograph (c) Brynn Fricke, some rights reserved (CC BY)Sapindus oahuensis, photograph author not stated, no rights reservedSapindus oahuensis, photograph author not stated, no rights reservedSapindus oahuensis, photograph author not stated, no rights reservedSapindus oahuensis, photograph (c) Kevin Faccenda, some rights reserved (CC BY) 32 photographs ›
Habitat figuresfrom few records
Coldest month, mean nightly low
20.1°C
Feb at the habitat, not a floor; extremes not used (sea cell) CHELSA
Warmest month, mean daily high
26°C
Jul, Aug, Sep and Oct at the habitat CHELSA
Rain a year (median across the range)
1,055mm
12 months of 25 mm or more in the median year CHELSA
Open-sky light
26–47DLI
Lowest to highest month (DLI) CHELSA
The year in the habitat's months, not shifted
  1. Jan
  2. Feb
  3. Mar
  4. Apr
  5. May
  6. Jun
  7. Jul
  8. Aug
  9. Sep
  10. Oct
  11. Nov
  12. Dec
A sharp rainy season, October to March (the habitat's months, not shifted), in a year of even temperature. rain rule, CHELSA
Not shifted: the shift rule does not apply to this habitat. The chart is in the habitat's months.

From few records: 7 records in 6 grid cells. The records.

Summary

Sapindus oahuensis is a species of tree in the soapberry family, Sapindaceae. It is endemic to Hawaii, where it is limited to Kauaʻi (Waimea Canyon) and Oʻahu (Waiʻanae and Koʻolau Ranges). Its common names include Āulu, Oahu soapberry, alulu, kaulu, and lonomea.

Quoted from Wikipedia, "Sapindus oahuensis", CC BY-SA 4.0.

About the genus · Sapindus

Sapindus is a genus of about thirteen species of shrubs and small trees in the maple and lychee family, Sapindaceae and tribe Sapindeae. It is native to warm temperate to tropical regions of the world. The genus includes both deciduous and evergreen species. More on Wikipedia ›

Quoted from Wikipedia, "Sapindus", CC BY-SA 4.0.

Cultivation

Seasons

The rain rule reads a sharp season: 70% of the median year's rain (751 mm of 1,054 mm) falls in October to March. The temperature curve is flat, 3.4 °C between the warmest and coldest month, so the growing-season rule does not infer a growing season from it. Months are the habitat's, northern hemisphere. The temperature curve moves under 4 °C between the warmest and coldest month, where the shift rule does not apply, so they are not shifted for a collection elsewhere.

Rain

1,054 mm in the median year at the habitat, 751 mm of it October to March. Wettest month December at 163 mm, driest month June at 37 mm. Across the grid cells of the range the year's total runs 803 mm to 1,211 mm, the 10th to 90th percentile of each cell's own year. The median of the cells' own yearly totals, 1,055 mm, is the year's rain at the top of the page; the 1,054 mm here is the median year's, the twelve monthly medians added, which the rain rule reads. Habitat calendar, northern hemisphere; median year across the grid cells of the range, CHELSA.

Light

Open sky over the habitat: 26 to 47 mol/m²/day across the year (daily light integral, median year across the grid cells of the range, CHELSA; the lowest 10th-percentile month across the cells is 25, the highest 90th-percentile month 47).

Warmth and air
Temperature

Monthly means: the coldest month's mean nightly low 20.1 °C in February (across the grid cells of the range 18.5 °C to 21.4 °C), the warmest month's mean daily high 26.1 °C in September (median year across the grid cells of the range, CHELSA). Cold floor: none read. The nearest figure is 20.1 °C, the coldest month's mean nightly low, February, in the median year (CHELSA); a month's mean of its nightly lows is warmer than the nights a floor is read from. The daily extremes were read at a weather cell that is mostly sea and are not used.

Humidity

Relative humidity at the habitat: 64 to 65% across the year (monthly means, median year across the grid cells of the range, CHELSA). A figure about the air, saying nothing about how the plant takes water.

How this section is made

Each card states this species' habitat figures with their sources, and what two fixed rules read from them; nothing here says what the plant does, wants or tolerates. The rules · the terms.

Seasons. Read from the median year of CHELSA monthly rainfall and mean temperature across the grid cells of the range: the rain rule takes the smallest set of months carrying 70% of the rain and calls it winter when its mean is more than half a degree below the year's, summer when more than that above, and neither in between; the temperature rule, used only under 120 mm, names the cooler six months when they are at least a degree cooler than the other six. Months are shifted for the other hemisphere only where the temperature curve moves 4 °C or more and the habitat lies 10° or more from the equator. A reading of the curves, not an observation of the plant.

Rain. CHELSA monthly precipitation, median year across the grid cells of the range. The rain that falls where the species is recorded; nothing about how the plant takes water.

Light. CHELSA shortwave radiation at each envelope cell, a daily-mean flux taken to a daily total and converted at 2.07 mol of PAR per MJ. The sky over the habitat, measured; what reaches a plant under a rock, a shrub or a shade cloth is not.

Temperature. CHELSA monthly means, median year across the grid cells of the range. No cold floor is read without a daily extremes series; the coldest month's mean nightly low named in its sentence is not one. Not a measured survival limit for any plant in a pot.

Humidity. CHELSA relative humidity, median year across the grid cells of the range.

Climate across the habitat

From few records: this habitat climate is read from 7 records in 6 grid cells; a page says so under 12 records or 5 cells, and shows the figures as read.

Habitat months, northern hemisphere

Habitat climate of Sapindus oahuensis through the yearWarmest months July, August, September and October, mean daily high 26 °C; coldest month February, mean nightly low 20.1 °C; 1,054 mm of rain in the median year (the twelve monthly medians added). Medians across the range, from CHELSA. Habitat months, northern hemisphere.15°20°25°30°°C · day and nightcold quarter050100150200mm rainDLI 26–47RH 64–65%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
day night rain medians and 10th–90th percentile across 6 habitat cells, CHELSA cold quarter: the three months around the coldest month's mean nightly low DLI, mol/m²/dayRH %each on its own scale
Figures by month
JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Day °C23 / 22–2322 / 21–2323 / 22–2323 / 22–2324 / 23–2425 / 24–2526 / 24–2626 / 25–2626 / 25–2626 / 25–2625 / 24–2523 / 22–24
Night °C20 / 19–2220 / 19–2120 / 19–2221 / 19–2221 / 20–2322 / 21–2423 / 21–2423 / 22–2523 / 22–2523 / 22–2422 / 21–2421 / 20–23
Rain mm135 / 106–157101 / 78–112129 / 101–14568 / 49–8052 / 36–6637 / 25–4949 / 33–6449 / 33–6348 / 35–5892 / 70–106131 / 108–141163 / 131–177
DLI28 / 26–2933 / 32–3438 / 37–3943 / 43–4346 / 46–4647 / 46–4746 / 46–4645 / 44–4542 / 41–4236 / 34–3629 / 28–3026 / 25–27
RH %64 / 60–6864 / 60–6764 / 60–6864 / 61–6864 / 61–6864 / 61–6965 / 62–7065 / 62–6965 / 62–6965 / 62–6965 / 61–6965 / 60–68

The daily extremes were read at a NASA POWER cell that is 48% land: neither it nor the next candidates whose coldest month's mean nightly low is within 2 °C of the median across cells sit in a POWER cell that is mostly land, and the rule reads a cold floor only from a cell that is mostly land, so none is read for this species. Nor is the coldest month's mean nightly low taken as one: it is a mean of a month's lows, not its coldest night. What that cell gave over 44 years: absolute minimum 16.0 °C, 1st-percentile night 18.1 °C, 99th-percentile day 28.1 °C.

How this section is made
Each figure is the median across the 6 grid cells holding the 7 in-range records, with the 10th–90th percentile span across those cells after the slash where it differs. A dash is a month one or more of those cells has no figure for in the grid (a variable CHELSA does not carry there), so no median is taken rather than one over fewer cells. Extremes and elevation were read at a typical spot in the range, cell 1368:435 (21.575, -158.225). Normals: CHELSA V2.1 1981–2010 climatology, 0.05° cells (each the mean of ~36 1 km pixels). Across the range: median and 10th–90th percentile of each month across the 6 distinct grid cells holding 7 of the 7 in-range records; extremes and elevation at the typical cell 1368:435 (its coldest month's mean nightly low nearest the median across cells, though its NASA POWER cell is only 48% land and none of the 5 next candidates within 2 °C of the median was mostly land); its position is the cell centre. Extremes: NASA POWER (MERRA-2) daily 1981–2024, cell 21.50_-158.125, lapse-corrected +173 m at 6.5 °C/km. Elevation: ETOPO 2022, 251 m (cell mean).

Natural habitat

Native range as published by WCVP; the marker is where the records are densest and decides nothing: the climate was read across the cells of the in-range records placed well enough to read one, not at the marker.
Openly licensed records inside the range, framed on where they fall.
NativeHawaii · regions are the level-3 units of the World Geographical Scheme for Recording Plant Distributions, as Kew's World Checklist records ranges, some under historical names such as Yugoslavia or Czechoslovakia (how).
Map marker21.47, -158.088 · in the densest population, 106 records (99% of those in range)
Kew's description“tree” · “wet tropical” · quoted from WCVP, RBG Kew (CC BY 4.0); not derived here
Evidence usedThe map marker rests on all 107 georeferenced records inside the native range; the climate across the range on the 7 of them placed to within 10 km; the map shows only the 47 openly licensed ones, which alone would put the marker 3 km away. Under a dozen records behind the climate. 100 in-range records are placed to worse than 10 km, or with no stated accuracy (admitted only as a person's observation to three decimals), and stay on the map but off the climate.
How this section is made
The map marker: the openly licensed record nearest the middle of the densest 1° population of the 107 in-range records; it decides nothing. Records outside the native range, living specimens and records marked introduced are not used; which records count.

Photographs

Sapindus oahuensis, photograph 1did not loadSapindus oahuensis, photograph 2did not loadSapindus oahuensis, photograph 3did not loadSapindus oahuensis, photograph 4did not loadSapindus oahuensis, photograph 5did not loadSapindus oahuensis, photograph 6did not load

Photographs: (c) Brynn Fricke, some rights reserved (CC BY) (2); author not stated, no rights reserved · CC0 (3); (c) Kevin Faccenda, some rights reserved (CC BY).

Similar habitat climate The 6 nearest by mean daily high, mean nightly low and rain, month by month. How.

Erythrina sandwicensis Erythrina sandwicensis Hawaiian Coral Tree Photo: CC0, author not statedEragrostis variabilis Eragrostis variabilis Poaceae Photo: CC BY, Kevin FaccendaHibiscus arnottianus Hibiscus arnottianus White Molokai Hibiscus Photo: CC0, author not statedSida fallax Sida fallax Yellow `ilima Photo: CC0, author not statedEuphorbia celastroides Euphorbia celastroides 'Ekoko Photo: CC0, author not statedWikstroemia uva-ursi Wikstroemia uva-ursi Hillside false ohelo Photo: CC0, author not stated

Other Sapindus 9 in the reference

Sapindus delavayi Sapindus delavayi Sapindaceae Photo: CC BY-SA, Zhangmoon618Sapindus drummondii Sapindus drummondii Sapindaceae Photo: CC BY, Alex AbairSapindus emarginatus Sapindus emarginatus Sapindaceae Photo: CC BY, Raja Sekhar ChimiralaSapindus marginatus Sapindus marginatus Sapindaceae Photo: Public domain, author not statedSapindus mukorossi Sapindus mukorossi Chinese soapberry Photo: CC BY, 謝麗霦Sapindus rarak Sapindus rarak Sapindaceae Photo: CC BY-SA, Raffi KojianSapindus saponaria Sapindus saponaria Wingleaf soapberry Photo: CC BY, Raúl A. Ruiz M. Sapindus thurstonii Sapindaceae Sapindus trifoliatus Sapindus trifoliatus Threeleaf soapberry Photo: CC BY, renjus box

Names & registers

Also known as Sapindus lonomea; Sapindus oahuense. (GBIF Backbone)

GBIFPOWOIPNIWFOWikidataWikipediaiNaturalist

The record

Family
Sapindaceae
Described by
Hillebr. ex Radlk.
Native to
Hawaii
Wild records
107 in range · 47 open

Every figure here is derived from public data by a stated rule and names its source; nothing about this species is written for its page by a person or by AI, apart from the marked, credited quotations. How →

Where this page came from built 2026-10-22
GBIF species record gbif.species answeredasked 2026-10-22GBIF's key 8341991 is Sapindus oahuensis Hillebr.; the page links Kew's Sapindus oahuensis Hillebr. ex Radlk., and the name is cited as Kew cites it
GBIF synonyms gbif.synonyms answeredasked 2026-10-22
GBIF common names gbif.vernacular answeredasked 2026-10-22names fetched 2026-10-22
WCVP native range wcvp.distribution answeredas of 2026-06-04
GBIF occurrence records gbif.occurrences answeredas of 2026-10-21GBIF occurrence download https://doi.org/10.15468/dl.hbdw64, of 2026-10-21; 1 record within 1 km of a botanic garden, herbarium or zoo left out (1 at a botanic garden or arboretum; Wikidata's list)
Habitat climate climate answeredasked 2026-10-22
Daily extremes (NASA POWER) climate.extremes answeredasked 2026-10-22NASA POWER (MERRA-2) daily 1981–2024, cell 21.50_-158.125, lapse-corrected +173 m at 6.5 °C/km; read, and set aside: NASA POWER's cell is mostly sea (48% land), so no cold floor is shown
Wikidata wikidata answeredasked 2026-10-22found by its label; its IPNI identifier 784659-1 is Kew's for Sapindus oahuensis Hillebr. ex Radlk.
Wikipedia wikipedia answeredasked 2026-10-22
iNaturalist photographs, wild inat.photos.wild answeredasked 2026-10-22from iNaturalist's open data of 2026-09-27: research-grade observations with an open-licence photograph, the 24 whose photographs iNaturalist received last (the open data holds no votes); filled 2026-10-22
iNaturalist photographs, cultivated inat.photos.cultivated not asked
GBIF media gbif.media answeredasked 2026-10-22none of the photographs on this page is credited to GBIF: those shown are other sources', and GBIF's were the same photographs or were set aside by the photograph rules
OpenAlex papers openalex not askednot yet asked for this reference; a later fill takes the papers from OpenAlex's snapshot

Every source is recorded as having answered, reported nothing, refused, failed, not been asked, or answered twice where one answer is taken (“not taken: two items answered”), and, for a source asked when this page was built, when: the figures are as the source held them that day; a source read from a file (Kew's World Checklist, a GBIF download) says "as of" the file's day instead; a row carried from an earlier build of the page names that build instead. Only “nothing to report” is ever shown as an absence. Records came from 9 datasets via GBIF.org; each carries its own licence.

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