Melicoccus bijugatus is a fruit-bearing tree in the soapberry family Sapindaceae, native or naturalized across the New World tropics including South and Guinep fruit America, and parts of the Caribbean. Phylogeny of Melicoccus based on morphological traits, showing the placement of M. The genus Melicoccus was first described by Patrick Browne, an Irish physician and botanist, in 1756.
This description was based on M. In 1760, Nikolaus Joseph von Jacquin described the first species in Browne’s genus, which he named M. In 1888 German taxonomist Ludwig Radlkofer placed Melicoccus in the tribe Melicocceae together with eight other genera. The specific epithet bijugatus refers to the bijugate leaves, leaves which consist of two pairs of leaflets.