Inkwood
Exothea paniculata
Plant Family: Sapindaceae
Leaves: Alternate, once-compound, with 4 (sometimes 6) shiny, elliptic leaflets.
Bark: Light gray-brown, roughened.
Flowers: Dioecious, small, with five petals, white with an orange center, held in clusters; from late winter to early spring.
Fruits: A red to purple-black berry, 1 cm in diameter; from late spring to early summer.
Habitat: Fairly common in coastal hammocks and on limestone soils.
Growth Form: Small to medium-sized tree.
Similar Species: Alternate, compound leaves, with only 4 leaflets is a characteristic only shared with Catclaw Blackbead (Pithecellobium unguis catti); however, the leaflet shape and arrangement differs.
Comments: The crushed fruits are used in the West Indies to produce a dark ink.
