Bouea macrophylla Griffith

Bouea macrophylla Griffith

Family

Anacardiaceae

Synonyms

Bouea gandaria Blume ex Miq.

Vernacular Names

Malaysia Kundang, rembunia, setar (Kedah).
English Gandaria.
Indonesia Ramania (Malay), gandaria (Java, Sunda).
Thailand Ma praang (Pattani), somprang (Peninsula).

Geographical Distributions

Bouea macrophylla is native to north Sumatra, Peninsular Malaysia and West Java. It is cultivated widely as a fruit tree in Sumatra, the wetter parts of Java, Borneo and Ambon, as well as Thailand (where it is locally important).

Description

B. macrophylla is a tree that can reach up to 27 m tall, light brown fissured bark and often with pendulous, smooth and angular or flattened branchlets.

The leaves are ovate-oblong to lance-shaped or elliptic, measuring (11-)14-30(-45) cm x (4-)5-8(-13) cm, decussate, simple, coriaceous, shining, entire, acute to wedge-shaped at the base and acute to acuminate at the apex. The petiole is 1-2.5 cm long.

The inflorescences are axillary panicles and measure 4-12 cm long. The flowers are mostly tetramerous and small. The sepal lobes are broadly ovate while the petals are oblong to obovate, measuring 1.5-2.5 mm x 1 mm, yellowish and turn brown later.

The yellow to orange fruit is a drupe, nearly spherical, measuring 2.5-5 cm in diametre, fleshy and juicy consistency, smooth and sour to sweet with a characteristic faint smell of turpentine.

Ecology / Cultivation

B. macrophylla is a tree of the humid tropics, thrives in a light and fertile soil. It occurs naturally in lowland forests below 300 m altitude, but has been successfully cultivated up to elevations of about 850 m.

Line Drawing / Photograph

Bouea_macrophylla

References

  1. Plant Resources of South-East Asia No. 2: Edible fruits and nuts.