Spondias malayana (PROSEA)
Introduction |
Spondias malayana Kosterm.
- Family: Anacardiaceae
Synonyms
- Poupartia pinnata Blanco,
- Spondias pinnata auct., non (Koenig ex L.f.) Kurz,
- S. wirtgenii Hasskarl.
Vernacular names
- Indonesia: kloncing (Javanese), kadongdong (Balinese), liwas (Minahasa)
- Malaysia: amra
- Philippines: libas (Tagalog)
- Cambodia: puën si: phlaè, mkak préi
Distribution
Scattered in Malesia, in Java especially in the drier eastern part, not in New Guinea.
Uses
Young leaves, inflorescences and fruits are sometimes used as an acid flavouring for food. The root is applied externally to regulate menstruation. The leaves are mixed with other substances, to treat coughs. In Bali a lotion from the leaves with the bark and leaves of an Eugenia sp. and a young coconut may be used on ulcers. The leaves with henna, lemon juice and lime may be applied for herpes and with salt for scurf. A decoction of the wood is drunk against gonorrhoea and the bark, cooked with sour milk, is taken against dysentery. The timber is very soft and not durable; it can be used to make matches and temporary poles.
Observations
- Tree, 20(-40) m tall, glabrous; trunk straight, cylindrical, smooth but with large deep longitudinal cracks, diameter 30-35(-150) cm, but without buttresses.
- Leaves spirally arranged, aggregate, 15-35 cm long, (3-)5-6(-8)-jugate, chartaceous; petiolules 4-10 mm long; leaflets opposite to subopposite, elongate oblong, 2.5-5 cm × 5-13 cm, almost asymmetrical, conspicuously abruptly acuminate, veins 16-25 ending in a marginal vein close to the margin.
- Inflorescence a stiff, axillary panicle, up to 24 cm long, branched from the base, branches up to 10 cm long; flowers in dense glomerules, subsessile, 4 mm in diameter.
- Calyx small; petals 5, 1.5-2.5 mm long, fleshy; stamens up to 1.5 mm long with broad filaments; styles 5, short, knobbly.
- Fruit a broadly ellipsoidal drupe, 3-5 cm × 2.5-3.5 cm, orange-yellow, pulp juicy, yellow-orange, 3-4 mm thick; endocarp a smooth white stone with a capsule of dense fibres, 5-celled.
- Seed usually 1-2.
S. malayana prefers areas with a pronounced dry season, usually on infertile soils in dry deciduous forest, up to 600 m altitude; also at the inland of mangrove vegetation where the trees are small and stunted. In the dry season the trees bear numerous pendulous bundles of fruits; new flushes and flowers appear simultaneously. S. malayana, S. acida Blume and S. novoguineensis Kosterm. belong to a complex that was formerly wrongly identified as S. pinnata (Koenig ex L.f.) Kurz in Malesia. Branch cuttings of S. malayana root easily.
Selected sources
- Brown, W.H., 1941-1943. Useful plants of the Philippines. 3 volumes. Department of Agriculture and Natural Resources. Technical Bulletin 10. Bureau of Printing, Manila, the Philippines. 1610 pp. (reprint, 1951-1957).
- Burkill, I.H., 1935. A dictionary of the economic products of the Malay Peninsula. 2 volumes. Crown Agents for the Colonies, London, United Kingdom. 2402 pp. (slightly revised reprint, 1966. 2 volumes. Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. 2444 pp.).
- Flora Malesiana (various editors), 1950- . Series 1. Vol. 1, 4- . Kluwer Academic Publishers, Dordrecht, the Netherlands.
- Heyne, K., 1927. De nuttige planten van Nederlandsch Indië [The useful plants of the Dutch East Indies]. 2nd edition, 3 volumes. Departement van Landbouw, Nijverheid en Handel in Nederlandsch Indië. 1953 pp. (3rd edition, 1950. van Hoeve, 's‑Gravenhage/Bandung, the Netherlands/Indonesia. 1660 pp.).
- Kostermans, A.J.G.H., 1991. Kedondong, ambarella, amra. The Spondiadeae (Anacardiaceae) in Asia and the Pacific area. Foundation Useful Plants of Asia. Vol. 1. Herbarium Bogoriense, Bogor, Indonesia. 100 pp.
- Ochse, J.J. & Bakhuizen van den Brink, R.C., 1980. Vegetables of the Dutch East Indies. 3rd English edition (translation of "Indische groenten”, 1931). Asher & Co., Amsterdam, the Netherlands. 1016 pp.
Authors
P.C.M. Jansen