Archidendron jiringa (Jack) Nielsen
Family
Leguminosae
Synonyms
Pithecellobium lobatum Benth., P. jiringa (Jack) Prain, Zygia jiringa (Jack) Kosterm.
Vernacular Names
| Malaysia | Jiring. |
| Indonesia | Jengkol, jering, jingkol, jringkol. |
| Burma | Tangyin, tanyeng-pen. |
| Thailand | Niang (Peninsular), niang-nok (Peninsular), chaniang (Eastern). |
Geographical Distributions
Archidendron jiringa is of Southeast Asian origin and occurs wild and cultivated in Malaysia, Indonesia (Java, Sumatra, Kalimantan), Brunei, Thailand, Burma and Bangladesh.
Description
A. jiringa is a tree that can reach measuring up to 20 m tall, with grey smooth bark, white wood, terete and with smooth branchlets.
The leaves are 2-pinnate and measures up to 25 cm long. The petiole is measures 2-6 cm long. The leaflets are 2-3 pairs per pinna, ovate-elliptical to oblong, measuring 8-15 cm x 4-5 cm, opposite, chartaceous, hairless and dark violet-red when young.
The inflorescence is an axillary, paniculate and measures up to 20 cm long. The flowers are sessile, 4-7 together in a pseudo-umbel on a short peduncle, 5-merous and bisexual. The sepal is a cup-shaped. The petal is tubular, measuring 4-5 mm long, with 5-lobed and white. The stamens are numerous where at the base they are united into a tube and with free filament parts that are about 5 mm long.
The fruit is a legume, compressed, falcate or twisted in a wide spiral, more or less deeply lobed along the ventral suture between the seeds, measures 20-25 cm x 3-4 cm, woody, greyish, hairless and dehiscent along the ventral suture.
The seeds are orbicular compressed, measuring about 35 mm x 10 mm, yellow-green testa when young and turn dark brown. The germination is hypogeal and the first five leaves are scale-shaped.
Ecology / Cultivation
A. jiringa occurs in primary and secondary rain forest and in evergreen forest. Trees are often spared when the forest is cut down. It prefers a pervious soil and high rainfall. It is recorded from sandy soil, lateritic soil, reddish sandy clay, flat land and low undulating hills, from sea-level up to 1000(-1600) m altitude.
Line Drawing / Photograph
References
- Plant Resources of South-East Asia No. 8: Vegetables.
