Cyphostemma mappia
species of plant
Cyphostemma mappia (Mapou tree or bois mapou) is a species of caudiciform succulent plant endemic to Mauritius. It is sometimes known as the "Mauritian baobab", though it is a member of the grape family (Vitaceae) and unrelated to the true Baobabs of Africa.
This species is endangered, but is beginning to be propagated in its native Mauritius, as an ornamental landscaping plant.
Description
It is a soft-stemmed caudiciform tree, with succulent green leaves on fragile, chunky, elastic, distinctively zig-zag branches. It can eventually reach a height of nearly 10 meters, and develop a vastly expanded, swollen, water-filled trunk. This means that it can resemble a baobab in shape.
As a case of "island gigantism", it is the only Cyphostemma species to attain the size of a large tree. It has also lost the vine-like tendrils of its genus, which falls within the greater Vitaceae (grapevine) family.
In exposed areas, it tends to be shorter and more robust - only a few meters tall. In more protected environments, it grows up to ten meters in height.
The public source identifies “Cyphostemma mappia” as species of plant. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Cyphostemma, mappia and species.
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The date and method of observation matter as much as the stated conclusion, especially where classification or consensus has changed. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 9, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q15567436. None of the 0 selected statements returned an explicit reference.
Current terminology should not be projected backward without checking the classification used when the underlying evidence was created. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
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This entry incorporates text from “Cyphostemma mappia” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.