Palaquium amboinense
Burck
Gutta-percha tree
Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh
Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh
Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew
What to Eat
Edible parts: Seeds
The seeds are edible.
Where to Find It
A tropical plant. It grows in lowland forests and up to 900 m above sea level.
Asia, Indonesia*, Papua New Guinea, PNG, SE Asia,
How to Identify
A large tree. It grows 40 m tall. The trunk can be 60 cm across. The bark is reddish-brown and rough. It has white milky sap. The leaves are simple and arranged in spirals. They are 7-16 cm long by 3-6 cm wide. They are more pale underneath. The flowering shoots are in the axils of leaves. There are 1-6 flowers in a group and they are 4-6 mm long and can be white, yellow or pale green. The fruit is a fleshy berry. It occurs singly and is 4-5 cmlong. It is red to brown. There is one seed in a fruit and it is 1-10 mm across.
How to Grow
Plants can be grown by seeds.
Other Uses
A fatty oil obtained from the seeds is used for illumination. The wood is used for furniture and structural work.
Notes
There are about 120 Palaquium species. They occur in Asia and the Pacific.
Names & Synonyms
Pohon getah perca
References (6)
- Ann. Jard. Bot. Buitenzorg 5:37. 1886
- Menninger, E.A., 1977, Edible Nuts of the World. Horticultural Books. Florida p 32 (As Palaquium javense)
- Sukarya, D. G., (Ed.) 2013, 3,500 Plant Species of the Botanic Gardens of Indonesia. LIPI p 427
- Triono, T., et al, 2007, A phylogeny of Pouteria (Sapotaceae) from Malesia and Australasia. Australian. Systematic Botany. 20:107-118
- Wickens, G.E., 1995, Edible Nuts. FAO Non-wood forest products. FAO, Rome. p152
- World Checklist of Useful Plant Species 2020. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew
