Scaphium scaphigerum
(Wall. ex G. Don) G. Planch
Wikimedia Commons - Kanhoba Ranchoddas Kirtikar and Baman Das Basu
What to Eat
Edible parts: Seeds
The seeds are crushed in water to produce a jelly-like mass, which is sweetened and eaten. The preparation is often dressed with buckwheat flour and made into soups and drinks.
Where to Find It
A tropical plant. It grows in evergreen forests near limestone. It grows between 50-400 m above sea level.
Asia, Cambodia, Indochina, Malaysia, Myanmar, SE Asia, Thailand,
How to Identify
A tree. It grows 35 m tall. The trunk is 2.5 m across. It has buttresses 7 m tall. The bark is grey, dippled and scaly. The leaves are oval and young leaves can have 3 lobes. The leaves are 15-24 cm long by 5-11 cm wide. The flowers can be in the axils of the leaves or at the ends of the branches.
How to Grow
Scaphium scaphigerum is a plant of the moist tropics where it can be found at elevations up to 700 metres. It grows in areas with a pronounced dry season.
Medicinal Uses
Seeds of this plant are known as pang da hai in Chinese-speaking countries and are used as herbal remedies in Indonesian and Chinese medicine. Beverages brewed from S. scaphigerum seeds have the consistency of weak tea or higher, and are often drunk together with the boiled pulp of the seed. They are traditionally taken as a restorative to treat loss of the voice from the common cold, flu, laryngitis, and for this reason are a popular refreshment served at Karaoke.
Other Uses
The fibrous bark is sometimes used for walls in temporary local houses. The wood of all species in this genus is very similar and no distinction in use is made between them. The wood is often traded; in Malaysia it is known as 'kembang semangkok', in Indonesia as 'kapas-kapasan', in Thailand as samrong. The following is a general description of the wood:- The heartwood is light yellow to light brown, with a large silver figure; it is not clearly demarcated from the sapwood. The texture is medium to slightly coarse and uneven; the grain straight or shallowly interlocked. The wood is light to moderately heavy; soft to moderately hard; fairly strong; somewhat resistant to fungi but susceptible to dry wood borers. It seasons fairly rapidly, with very little risk of checking and distortion; once dry it is moderately stable to stable in service. Because of its high silica content, it has a blunting effect on tools and so stellite-tipped and tungsten carbide tools are recommended. It is easy to work, nailing and screwing are good; gluing is correct; planing is easy and the surface produced is generally smooth. Considered a light hardwood, it has a very attractive figure, making the timber very suitable for interior finishing, panelling, furniture components etc, It is also used in construction, for joinery, boxes and crates, flooring, matches, plywood etc. Logs can be easily peeled to various thicknesses of veneers without any form of pretreatment - the veneers produced are found to be smooth and tight. Attractive ornamental figures can be found on the veneer surfaces and the veneer can be glued fairly easily. The wood is used for fuel.
Wikipedia
Source ↗Scaphium scaphigerum is a deciduous tropical nut-bearing tree of genus Scaphium.
Production
In Thailand it flowers in December to February and fruits February to May.
Other Information
A significant nut.
Notes
Also put in the family Sterculiaceae.
Names & Synonyms
Bakudai, Mohbin, Phung thalaai, Pong tai hai, Priang, Prong, Samrong, Shaw, Tai hau lam, Taung-thin-baw, Thaai phao
References (6)
- Facciola, S., 1998, Cornucopia 2: a Source Book of Edible Plants. Kampong Publications, p 239 (As Sterculia scaphigera)
- Hedrick, U.P., 1919, (Ed.), Sturtevant's edible plants of the world. p 635 (As Sterculia scaphigera)
- 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
- Numer. List no. 1130. 1829 (As Sterculia scaphigera)
- Tanaka, (As Sterculia scaphigera)
- Thai Forestry Bulletin 23:62-108, 1995
