Baccaurea brevipes

Hook. f.

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(c) Smithsonian Institution, National Museum of Natural History, Department of Botany, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC-SA)

What to Eat

Edible parts: Fruit

Fruit. Insipid. The globose fruit is up to 20mm in diameter. The fruit is carried in clusters on stems 7 - 30cm long.

Where to Find It

A tropical plant. It is often in forest that is flooded in the wet season. It grows from 20-700 m altitude.

Asia, Indochina, Indonesia, Malaysia, SE Asia, Thailand,

Countries: United Arab Emirates, Afghanistan, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bangladesh, Bahrain, Brunei, Bhutan, China, Georgia, Indonesia, Israel, India, Iraq, Iran, Jordan, Japan, Kyrgyzstan, Cambodia, North Korea, South Korea, Kuwait, Kazakhstan, Laos, Lebanon, Sri Lanka, Myanmar, Mongolia, Maldives, Malaysia, Nepal, Oman, Philippines, Pakistan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Syria, Thailand, Tajikistan, Timor-Leste, Turkmenistan, Turkey, Taiwan, Uzbekistan, Vietnam, Yemen

How to Identify

A small tree. It grows 10 m tall. Plants are separately male and female. The leaves are oval and 15-35 cm long by 7-14 cm wide. The fruit are in groups of 14-20. They are 10-18 mm across. The fruit are waxy white. They grow on the stems. The flesh is violet.

How to Grow

Found in the wild on sand, clay or granite soils. A dioecious species, both male and female forms need to be grown if fruit and seed are required.

Propagation: Seed - when sown fresh it usually germinates in a few days.

Medicinal Uses

An extract of the leaves is used to regulate menstruation. We have no specific information on this species, but the bark of several members of this genus is used to relieve eye inflammation.

Other Uses

We have no specific information for this species, but the bark of several members of this genus is used, along with other ingredients, as a dyestuff to colour silk yellow, red or mauve, using the dyeing process known as 'pekan' in Malay. The wood is used in traditional house building, although it is not resistant to insects. In common with other trees that produce their flowers and fruits on the trunk of the tree, members of this genus are generally considered to be good support trees for the climbing rattan palms, which are grown to provide material for basket making, weaving into furniture, making ropes etc.

Other Information

It is not popular. It is grown as a food plant.

Notes

There are about 80 Baccaurea species.

Names & Synonyms

Mata ayam, Rambai atan, Rambai ayam, Rambai bukit, Rambai burong, Rami, Setambun lilin, Tajam molek, Tampoi hutan

References (8)

Bircher, A. G. & Bircher, W. H., 2000, Encyclopedia of Fruit Trees and Edible Flowering Plants in Egypt and the Subtropics. AUC Press. p 51
Burkill, I.H., 1966, A Dictionary of the Economic Products of the Malay Peninsula. Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Vol 1 (A-H) p 280
Hanum, F. I., 1999, Plant Diversity and Conservation Value of Ayer Hitam Forest, Selangor, Peninsula Malaysia. Pertanika J. Trop. Agric. Sci. 22(2):73-83
Milow, P., et al, 2013, Malaysian species of plants with edible fruits or seeds and their evaluation. International Journal of Fruit Science. 14:1, 1-27
Ong, H., et al, 2012, Traditional knowledge and usage of edible plants among the Semai community of Kampung Batu 16, Tapah, Perak, Malaysia. Scientific Research and Essays Vol. 7(4), pp. 441-445, 30 January, 2012
Suwardi, A. B., et al, 2020, Ethnobotany and conservation of indigenous edible fruit plants in South Aceh, Indonesia. Biodiversitas Vol. 21, No. 5, pp 1850-1860
World Checklist of Useful Plant Species 2020. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew
www.nationalherbarium.nl/thaueuph/ Flora of Thailand.