Taxon: Melicoccus oliviformis Kunth

Summary

Genus:

Melicoccus

Family:

Sapindaceae

Subfamily:

Sapindoideae

Nomen number:

23982

Place of publication:

F. W. H. A. von Humboldt et al., Nov. gen. sp. 5:100[folio]. 1821; 5:130[quarto]. 1822 "Melicocca olivaeformis"

Protologue link:

http://botanicus.org/page/6612

Comment:

spelling corrected in accordance with Madrid ICN Art. 60.11

Verified:

04/11/1986 ARS Systematic Botanists.

Accessions:

0 (0 active, 0 available) in National Plant Germplasm System.

Other conspecific taxa

Autonyms (not in current use), synonyms and invalid designations

Homotypic Synonym(s)
Talisia oliviformis (Kunth) Radlk.

No images

Conservation Status

Reference(s)

Acevedo-Rodríguez, P. 2003. Melicocceae (Sapindaceae): Melicoccus and Talisia. Fl. Neotrop. Monogr. 87:34-39.
APHIS. Agricultural Risk Management System United States Department of Agriculture.
Jiménez-Rojas, M. I. et al. 2021. Genetic diversity of Huaya India (Melicoccus oliviformis Kunth), a neglected Neotropical fruit crop. Sci. Hort. 290:110535. DOI: 10.1016/j.scienta.2021.110535.
Steyermark, J. A. et al., eds. 1995-. Flora of the Venezuelan Guayana. Note: Missouri Botanical Garden & Timber Press

Common names

Language	Name	Alternate name	note	seq	Citation
Spanish	guaya			2	Acevedo-Rodríguez, P. 2003. Melicocceae (Sapindaceae): Melicoccus and Talisia. Fl. Neotrop. Monogr. 87:34-39.
Spanish (Mexico)	huaya india			2	Jiménez-Rojas, M. I. et al. 2021. Genetic diversity of Huaya India (Melicoccus oliviformis Kunth), a neglected Neotropical fruit crop. Sci. Hort. 290:110535. DOI: 10.1016/j.scienta.2021.110535.

Distribution

order_code	Status	Continent	Subcontinent	Country	State	Note	Reference
1	Native	Northern America	Southern Mexico	Mexico	Campeche		Acevedo-Rodríguez, P. 2003. Melicocceae (Sapindaceae): Melicoccus and Talisia. Fl. Neotrop. Monogr. 87:34-39.
1	Native	Northern America	Southern Mexico	Mexico	Chiapas		Acevedo-Rodríguez, P. 2003. Melicocceae (Sapindaceae): Melicoccus and Talisia. Fl. Neotrop. Monogr. 87:34-39.
1	Native	Northern America	Southern Mexico	Mexico	Quintana Roo		Acevedo-Rodríguez, P. 2003. Melicocceae (Sapindaceae): Melicoccus and Talisia. Fl. Neotrop. Monogr. 87:34-39.
1	Native	Southern America	Northern South America	Venezuela	Anzoátegui		Acevedo-Rodríguez, P. 2003. Melicocceae (Sapindaceae): Melicoccus and Talisia. Fl. Neotrop. Monogr. 87:34-39.
1	Native	Southern America	Northern South America	Venezuela	Aragua		Acevedo-Rodríguez, P. 2003. Melicocceae (Sapindaceae): Melicoccus and Talisia. Fl. Neotrop. Monogr. 87:34-39.
1	Native	Southern America	Northern South America	Venezuela	Carabobo		Acevedo-Rodríguez, P. 2003. Melicocceae (Sapindaceae): Melicoccus and Talisia. Fl. Neotrop. Monogr. 87:34-39.
1	Native	Southern America	Northern South America	Venezuela	Cojedes		Acevedo-Rodríguez, P. 2003. Melicocceae (Sapindaceae): Melicoccus and Talisia. Fl. Neotrop. Monogr. 87:34-39.
1	Native	Southern America	Northern South America	Venezuela	Distrito Capital		Acevedo-Rodríguez, P. 2003. Melicocceae (Sapindaceae): Melicoccus and Talisia. Fl. Neotrop. Monogr. 87:34-39.
1	Native	Southern America	Northern South America	Venezuela	Falcón		Acevedo-Rodríguez, P. 2003. Melicocceae (Sapindaceae): Melicoccus and Talisia. Fl. Neotrop. Monogr. 87:34-39.
1	Native	Southern America	Northern South America	Venezuela	Guárico		Acevedo-Rodríguez, P. 2003. Melicocceae (Sapindaceae): Melicoccus and Talisia. Fl. Neotrop. Monogr. 87:34-39.
1	Native	Southern America	Northern South America	Venezuela	Lara		Acevedo-Rodríguez, P. 2003. Melicocceae (Sapindaceae): Melicoccus and Talisia. Fl. Neotrop. Monogr. 87:34-39.
1	Native	Southern America	Northern South America	Venezuela	Miranda		Acevedo-Rodríguez, P. 2003. Melicocceae (Sapindaceae): Melicoccus and Talisia. Fl. Neotrop. Monogr. 87:34-39.
1	Native	Southern America	Northern South America	Venezuela	Nueva Esparta		Acevedo-Rodríguez, P. 2003. Melicocceae (Sapindaceae): Melicoccus and Talisia. Fl. Neotrop. Monogr. 87:34-39.
1	Native	Southern America	Northern South America	Venezuela	Zulia		Acevedo-Rodríguez, P. 2003. Melicocceae (Sapindaceae): Melicoccus and Talisia. Fl. Neotrop. Monogr. 87:34-39.
1	Native	Southern America	Western South America	Colombia	Antioquia		Acevedo-Rodríguez, P. 2003. Melicocceae (Sapindaceae): Melicoccus and Talisia. Fl. Neotrop. Monogr. 87:34-39.
1	Native	Southern America	Western South America	Colombia	Atlántico		Acevedo-Rodríguez, P. 2003. Melicocceae (Sapindaceae): Melicoccus and Talisia. Fl. Neotrop. Monogr. 87:34-39.
1	Native	Southern America	Western South America	Colombia	Bolívar		Acevedo-Rodríguez, P. 2003. Melicocceae (Sapindaceae): Melicoccus and Talisia. Fl. Neotrop. Monogr. 87:34-39.
1	Native	Southern America	Western South America	Colombia	Cesar		Acevedo-Rodríguez, P. 2003. Melicocceae (Sapindaceae): Melicoccus and Talisia. Fl. Neotrop. Monogr. 87:34-39.
1	Native	Southern America	Western South America	Colombia	La Guajira		Acevedo-Rodríguez, P. 2003. Melicocceae (Sapindaceae): Melicoccus and Talisia. Fl. Neotrop. Monogr. 87:34-39.
1	Native	Southern America	Western South America	Colombia	Magdalena		Acevedo-Rodríguez, P. 2003. Melicocceae (Sapindaceae): Melicoccus and Talisia. Fl. Neotrop. Monogr. 87:34-39.
1	Native	Southern America	Western South America	Colombia	Sucre		Acevedo-Rodríguez, P. 2003. Melicocceae (Sapindaceae): Melicoccus and Talisia. Fl. Neotrop. Monogr. 87:34-39.
2	Cultivated					widely cult. in neotropics	Acevedo-Rodríguez, P. 2003. Melicocceae (Sapindaceae): Melicoccus and Talisia. Fl. Neotrop. Monogr. 87:34-39.
4	Naturalized	Northern America	Southern Mexico	Mexico	Oaxaca		Acevedo-Rodríguez, P. 2003. Melicocceae (Sapindaceae): Melicoccus and Talisia. Fl. Neotrop. Monogr. 87:34-39.
4	Naturalized	Northern America	Southern Mexico	Mexico	Yucatán		Acevedo-Rodríguez, P. 2003. Melicocceae (Sapindaceae): Melicoccus and Talisia. Fl. Neotrop. Monogr. 87:34-39.
4	Naturalized	Southern America	Caribbean	United States	Puerto Rico		Acevedo-Rodríguez, P. 2003. Melicocceae (Sapindaceae): Melicoccus and Talisia. Fl. Neotrop. Monogr. 87:34-39.
4	Naturalized	Southern America	Central America	Belize			Acevedo-Rodríguez, P. 2003. Melicocceae (Sapindaceae): Melicoccus and Talisia. Fl. Neotrop. Monogr. 87:34-39.
4	Naturalized	Southern America	Central America	El Salvador			Acevedo-Rodríguez, P. 2003. Melicocceae (Sapindaceae): Melicoccus and Talisia. Fl. Neotrop. Monogr. 87:34-39.
4	Naturalized	Southern America	Central America	Guatemala			Acevedo-Rodríguez, P. 2003. Melicocceae (Sapindaceae): Melicoccus and Talisia. Fl. Neotrop. Monogr. 87:34-39.
4	Naturalized	Southern America	Central America	Honduras			Acevedo-Rodríguez, P. 2003. Melicocceae (Sapindaceae): Melicoccus and Talisia. Fl. Neotrop. Monogr. 87:34-39.
4	Naturalized	Southern America	Western South America	Ecuador	Sucumbíos		Acevedo-Rodríguez, P. 2003. Melicocceae (Sapindaceae): Melicoccus and Talisia. Fl. Neotrop. Monogr. 87:34-39.
4	Naturalized	Southern America	Western South America	Peru			Acevedo-Rodríguez, P. 2003. Melicocceae (Sapindaceae): Melicoccus and Talisia. Fl. Neotrop. Monogr. 87:34-39.

Native
Northern America

SOUTHERN MEXICO: Mexico [Campeche, Chiapas, Quintana Roo]

Southern America

NORTHERN SOUTH AMERICA: Venezuela [Zulia, Anzoátegui, Aragua, Cojedes, Falcón, Guárico, Miranda, Nueva Esparta, Distrito Capital, Carabobo, Lara]
WESTERN SOUTH AMERICA: Colombia [Antioquia, Atlántico, Bolívar, Magdalena, Sucre, Cesar, La Guajira]

Cultivated (widely cult. in neotropics)
Naturalized
Northern America

SOUTHERN MEXICO: Mexico [Oaxaca, Yucatán]

Southern America

CARIBBEAN: United States [Puerto Rico]
CENTRAL AMERICA: Belize, Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador
WESTERN SOUTH AMERICA: Ecuador [Sucumbíos], Peru

Reference(s)

Acevedo-Rodríguez, P. 2003. Melicocceae (Sapindaceae): Melicoccus and Talisia. Fl. Neotrop. Monogr. 87:34-39.

Economic Uses

Usage	Type	Note	Reference
Human food	fruit		Mabberley, D. J. 1997. The plant-book: a portable dictionary of the vascular plants, ed. 2
Human food	fruit		Jiménez-Rojas, M. I. et al. 2021. Genetic diversity of Huaya India (Melicoccus oliviformis Kunth), a neglected Neotropical fruit crop. Sci. Hort. 290:110535. DOI: 10.1016/j.scienta.2021.110535.

Cite as: USDA, Agricultural Research Service, National Plant Germplasm System. 2026. Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN Taxonomy). National Germplasm Resources Laboratory, Beltsville, Maryland.
URL: https://npgsweb.ars-grin.gov/gringlobal/taxon/taxonomydetail?id=23982. Accessed 8 November 2026.