Plant · P-984

Soapberry

Sapindus saponaria

Soapberry is an evergreen tree with a dense, rounded crown, growing to roughly the size of a large shade tree while tolerating salt spray, drought and poor coastal soils. Its fruit husks foam into a natural soap and shampoo when soaked in water, and the hard black seeds are strung into beads and rosaries. The wood is worked into boxes, toys and small construction, and the dense canopy shelters birds and pollinators, making it a useful pioneer tree for reforestation.