Planchonella sandwicensis (A. Gray) Pierre

vernacular 'ala'a — species · Sapotaceae

USDA: PLSA2
GBIF: 5333997
Rank: species

'ala'a (Planchonella sandwicensis) — Platephotograph · Oscar JohnsonCC BY-NC-ND source · iNaturalist ↗

§2Habit & range

Growth habit: Shrub, Tree
Duration: Perennial
Group: Dicot
Family: Sapotaceae Juss.
Genus: Planchonella

§2a

Native status, by region

HI Hawaii Native

§2b

County-level range

· 4 counties across 1 state

Legend Native · 4 Introduced · 0 Both · 0 Hover a county for detail.

§3Cultivation specs · USDA

Recorded by the USDA Plant Materials Program.

§3a

Tolerances

Drought: Medium
Shade: Medium
Anaerobic: None
Hedging: Low

§3b

Climate & soil

Cold tolerance: 40 °F minimum
Frost-free days: 365 min.
Root depth: 36 in min.
Fertility need: Medium

§3c

Form & growth

Mature height: 40 ft
Height @ 20 y: 30 ft
Foliage texture: Fine
Foliage colour: Green
Porosity (summer): Moderate
Porosity (winter): Moderate
Flower colour: Green
Fruit colour: Brown
Fire resistant: No
N fixation: None

§3d

Reproduction

Seed begins: Spring
Seed ends: Summer
Stratify: No
Seeds / lb: 282
Propagation: seed, cuttings, sprigs

§3e

Use & availability

Nursery stock: No
Palatable, human: No
Lumber: Yes
Christmas tree: No

§4Counties, by state

Recorded in 4 counties across 1 state.

Hawaii view state ↗ 4 N ▾

§5Sources & provenance

USDA PLANTS

Symbol, taxonomy, distribution, cultivation specs, native status. Public domain.

plants.usda.gov/PLSA2 ↗

GBIF Backbone

Canonical taxonomic identity, synonym resolution, cross-refs. CC0.

gbif.org/species/5333997 ↗

Record version

Cached and built locally. Source version on this record:

usda-plants-mt-2026-05-26

fetched 2026-05-26T20:46:58Z