General Plant Information (Edit)
Plant Habit: Tree
Life cycle: Perennial
Sun Requirements: Full Sun
Minimum cold hardiness: Zone 10a -1.1 °C (30 °F) to +1.7 °C (35 °F)
Maximum recommended zone: Zone 11
Plant Height: 15-60 feet
Plant Spread: 8-15 feet
Leaves: Evergreen
Fruit: Showy
Flowers: Showy
Flower Color: Pink
White
Bloom Size: 2"-3"
Flower Time: Late spring or early summer
Summer
Suitable Locations: Xeriscapic
Uses: Flowering Tree
Wildlife Attractant: Birds
Toxicity: Leaves are poisonous
Fruit is poisonous
Propagation: Other methods: Cuttings: Stem
Other
Containers: Not suitable for containers
Miscellaneous: Epiphytic

Image
Common names
  • Autograph Tree
  • Pitch Apple
  • Scotch Attorney
Botanical names
  • Accepted: Clusia rosea
  • Synonym: Clusia silvicola

Photo Gallery
Location: Lauderdale-by-the-Sea, Florida
Date: 2022-02-14
full grown tree in a condo landscape
Location: San Antonio Zoo, San Antonio, Texas
Date: 2022-04-06
Location: Lauderdale-by-the-Sea, Florida
Date: 2022-02-14
a young tree planted in a condo landscape
Location: Lauderdale-by-the-Sea, Florida
Date: 2022-02-14
foliage and fruits
Uploaded by sedumzz

photo by:  Forest & Kim Starr
Location: Wahiawa Botanical Garden, Oahu Hawaii
Date: 2016-07-07
Uploaded by sedumzz

photo credit: Scott Zona

photo credit: Scott Zona
Location: St. James, Florida
Location: Central Florida
Date: 2016-01-08
Autograph Tree (Clusia Rosea)
Location: Houston Museum of Natural Science
Date: 2017-11-21
in the butterfly house

photo by Forest & Kim Starr (USGS)

photo by Forest & Kim Starr (USGS)

photo credit: Scott Zona

photo credit: Forest & Kim Starr
Comments:
  • Posted by ILPARW (southeast Pennsylvania - Zone 6b) on Mar 26, 2022 1:28 PM concerning plant:
    I saw some of this species, native to the Caribbean, occasionally used in landscapes in south Florida as trees, but I saw sheared hedges of this or a similar Clusia species also. It has such fleshy paddle-like, 3 to 6 inch long leaves that it makes me think of Jade Plant. I did not see the big white or pink flowers in February but I did see the large 3 inch diameter fruit, mostly green fruits, but some sort of orange. The fruit is poisonous for people, but birds do eat the exposed seed after the fruit splits open. It is very invasive in Hawaii, Sri Lanka, and some other tropical countries. The name Autograph Tree comes from the ability of people to write on the leaves with their fingernails.

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