Microcos latifolia
(Masters) Burret
Cenderai gajah
President and Fellows of Harvard College
President and Fellows of Harvard College
President and Fellows of Harvard College
What to Eat
Edible parts: Fruit
Fruit - raw or cooked. The pulp is used in curries and chutneys. The yellow fruit is an obovoid drupe around 20mm long and 15mm wide.
Where to Find It
It is a tropical plant.
Asia, India, Malaysia, SE Asia, Singapore,
How to Identify
A shrub or tree. It grows 7-13 m high. The branches have a covering. The leaves are broadly oval. They are 15-22 cm long by 9-12 cm wide. There are soft hairs underneath. The fruit is oval and fleshy. They are 2 cm long by 1.5 cm wide. They are yellow and softly hairy.
Other Uses
The heartwood is pale brown, becoming grey-brown upon exposure; it is not well defined from the paler coloured sapwood. The texture is moderately coarse and even; the grain is straight or interlocked; there is a vague ‘silver-grain’ figure on quarter-sawn material. The wood is moderately hard to hard. It is suitable for light to medium purposes under cover; these uses include veneer and plywood, tool handles, general utility furniture, flooring, cladding, wooden pallets, mouldings and possibly sport equipments.
Notes
They have also been put in the families Tiliaceae and Sparrmanniaceae.
Names & Synonyms
Damak-damak bulu, Tajam damak
References (4)
- Burkill, I. H., 1966,
- Chung, R. C. K., & Soepadmo, E, 2011, Taxonomic revision of the genus Microcos (Malvaceae-Grewioideae) in Peninsular Malaysia and Singapore. Blumea 56, 2011: 273–299
- 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
- PROSEA No. 2
