Sideroxylon celastrinum(Kunth) T.D.Penn.

saffron plum

WFO wfo-0000310645 Accepted WFO 2026-06 8 photographs CC0 / CC BY / CC BY-SA

Plate 1 figs. a–h · 8 separate observations

Sideroxylon celastrinum, photographed by Center for Urban Ecology
fig. a Center for Urban Ecology, CC0 1.0 / 2022-05-05 / obs. 195395300
Sideroxylon celastrinum, photographed by johnyochum
fig. b johnyochum, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 192176537
Sideroxylon celastrinum, photographed by José Gerardo Velasco
fig. c José Gerardo Velasco, CC BY-SA 4.0 / obs. 194570932
Sideroxylon celastrinum, photographed by Center for Urban Ecology
fig. d Center for Urban Ecology, CC0 1.0 / obs. 189627051
Sideroxylon celastrinum, photographed by Brandon Corder
fig. e Brandon Corder, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 182476077
Sideroxylon celastrinum, photographed by Jay Horn
fig. f Jay Horn, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 172065711
Sideroxylon celastrinum, photographed by Tom Field
fig. g Tom Field, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 169026728
Sideroxylon celastrinum, photographed by Reid Hardin
fig. h Reid Hardin, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 140461528

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 17 botanical countries

Regions where Sideroxylon celastrinum is native: Alabama, Florida, Mexico Gulf, Mexico Northeast, Mexico Northwest, Mexico Southeast, Mexico Southwest, Texas, Bahamas, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, Venezuela AlabamaFloridaMexico GulfMexico NortheastMexico NorthwestMexico SoutheastMexico SouthwestTexasColombiaCosta RicaCubaEl SalvadorGuatemalaHondurasNicaraguaVenezuela Bahamas
Native distribution of Sideroxylon celastrinum, 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. Regions too small to draw at this scale are marked with a dot.
RegionTDWG codeContinent
Bahamas BAH SOUTHERN AMERICA
Colombia CLM
Costa Rica COS
Cuba CUB
El Salvador ELS
Guatemala GUA
Honduras HON
Nicaragua NIC
Venezuela VEN
Alabama ALA NORTHERN AMERICA
Florida FLA
Mexico Gulf MXG
Mexico Northeast MXE
Mexico Northwest MXN
Mexico Southeast MXT
Mexico Southwest MXS
Texas TEX

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 18 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.

  • Bumelia affinis S.F.Blake
  • Bumelia angustifolia Nutt.
  • Bumelia celastrina Kunth
  • Bumelia celastrina var. angustifolia (Nutt.) R.W.Long
  • Bumelia eggersii Pierre
  • Bumelia ferox Cham. & Schltdl.
  • Bumelia hayesii Hemsl.
  • Bumelia megacocca Small
  • Bumelia parvifolia Chapm.
  • Bumelia reclinata Torr.
  • Bumelia schottii Britton
  • Bumelia spiniflora A.DC.
  • Bumelia spinosa A.DC.
  • Lyciodes angustifolia Kuntze
  • Lyciodes candolleana Kuntze
  • Lyciodes ferox (Cham. & Schltdl.) Kuntze
  • Lyciodes hayesii (Hemsl.) Kuntze
  • Lyciodes spiniflora Kuntze

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.