Donella lanceolata(Blume) Aubrév.

Star apple

WFO wfo-0000945212 Accepted WFO 2026-06 8 photographs CC BY

Plate 1 figs. a–h · 2 observations

This species has been photographed under an open licence only 2 times, so some figures below are different views of the same plant, taken on the same day, rather than different individuals. They are usually different parts of it: the leaf, the flower, the bark.

Donella lanceolata, photographed by Siddarth Machado
fig. a Siddarth Machado, CC BY 4.0 / 2014-02-01 / obs. 57288761
Donella lanceolata, photographed by Siddarth Machado
fig. b Siddarth Machado, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 41332893
Donella lanceolata, photographed by Siddarth Machado
fig. c Siddarth Machado, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 57288763
Donella lanceolata, photographed by Siddarth Machado
fig. d Siddarth Machado, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 57288762
Donella lanceolata, photographed by Siddarth Machado
fig. e Siddarth Machado, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 41332897
Donella lanceolata, photographed by Siddarth Machado
fig. f Siddarth Machado, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 41332898
Donella lanceolata, photographed by Siddarth Machado
fig. g Siddarth Machado, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 41332973
Donella lanceolata, photographed by Siddarth Machado
fig. h Siddarth Machado, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 57288764

Every figure is a research-grade observation under CC0, CC BY or CC BY-SA, rehosted with the photographer’s name, the licence and the observation it came from. Photographs under a NonCommercial licence are excluded from this site and are never stored, which costs us a great many pictures and is not negotiable.

Native range 22 botanical countries

Regions where Donella lanceolata is native: Madagascar, China South-Central, China Southeast, Hainan, Assam, Bangladesh, Borneo, Cambodia, India, Jawa, Laos, Malaya, Myanmar, New Guinea, Philippines, Solomon Is., Sri Lanka, Sulawesi, Sumatera, Thailand, Vietnam, Queensland MadagascarChina South-CentralChina SoutheastHainanAssamBangladeshBorneoCambodiaIndiaJawaLaosMalayaMyanmarNew GuineaPhilippinesSolomon Is.Sri LankaSulawesiSumateraThailandVietnamQueensland
Native distribution of Donella lanceolata, after Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants. Introduced, extinct and doubtful records are excluded, so this is where the plant is from, not everywhere it now grows.
RegionTDWG codeContinent
Assam ASS ASIA-TROPICAL
Bangladesh BAN
Borneo BOR
Cambodia CBD
India IND
Jawa JAW
Laos LAO
Malaya MLY
Myanmar MYA
New Guinea NWG
Philippines PHI
Solomon Is. SOL
Sri Lanka SRL
Sulawesi SUL
Sumatera SUM
Thailand THA
Vietnam VIE
China South-Central CHC ASIA-TEMPERATE
China Southeast CHS
Hainan CHH
Madagascar MDG AFRICA
Queensland QLD AUSTRALASIA

Region boundaries approximated from Natural Earth (public domain) and mapped to TDWG World Geographical Scheme for Recording Plant Distributions (WGSRPD) level-3 botanical countries (Brummitt 2001). Indicative, not the official WGSRPD geometry.

Also published as 19 synonyms

A synonym is not an error. It is a record of botanists disagreeing, in print, about where this plant belongs. Each of these was somebody’s considered answer.

  • Chrysophyllum acuminatum Roxb.
  • Chrysophyllum bancanum Miq.
  • Chrysophyllum dioicum Koord. & Valeton
  • Chrysophyllum javanicum Steud.
  • Chrysophyllum lanceolatum (Blume) A.DC.
  • Chrysophyllum lanceolatum var. papuanum C.T.White
  • Chrysophyllum lanceolatum var. stellatocarpon P.Royen
  • Chrysophyllum pentagonum Hance
  • Chrysophyllum roxburghianum Wall. ex Speede
  • Chrysophyllum roxburghii G.Don
  • Chrysophyllum roxburghii var. papuanum C.T.White
  • Chrysophyllum sumatranum Miq.
  • Donella lanceolata var. malagassica Aubrév.
  • Donella roxburghii (G.Don) Pierre ex Lecomte
  • Donella roxburghii var. tonkinensis Lecomte
  • Lucuma lanceolata (Blume) Zipp.
  • Lucuma tomentosa Zipp.
  • Niemeyera papuana H.J.Lam
  • Nycterisition lanceolatum Blume

Sourcesevery claim on this page

  1. World Flora Online Plant List. accepted name, authority, classification. CC0. Retrieved 2026-07-12.
  2. iNaturalist. photographs and flowering annotations, CC0 / CC BY / CC BY-SA only. per photograph. Retrieved 2026-06-27.
  3. Wikidata. common name (P1843), joined on the World Flora Online identifier (P7715). CC0. Retrieved 2026-07-13.
  4. Kew, World Checklist of Vascular Plants (WCVP v16). native distribution by TDWG level-3 botanical country, and life form. CC BY 3.0. Retrieved 2026-06-04.

We publish what we can source and we say so when we cannot. This page has no care advice and no toxicity claim, because we do not yet have those from a source we can cite.