Donax canniformis

(Forst. f.) K. Schum.

Common donax

MarantaceaeFruit

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What to Eat

Edible parts: Fruit

The fleshy portion of the fruit is eaten raw.

Where to Find It

A tropical plant. It grows in damp soil. They are common and widely distributed in Papua New Guinea and the Philippines. In China they grow in wet places in secondary forest. In Sabah it grows up to 800-1,000 m altitude.

Andamans, Asia, Cambodia, China, Guam, India, Indochina, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Pacific, Papua New Guinea, Philippines, PNG, SE Asia, Taiwan, Thailand, Vanuatu, Vietnam,

Countries: United Arab Emirates, Afghanistan, Armenia, Australia, Azerbaijan, Bangladesh, Bahrain, Brunei, Bhutan, China, Fiji, Micronesia, Georgia, Indonesia, Israel, India, Iraq, Iran, Jordan, Japan, Kyrgyzstan, Cambodia, Kiribati, North Korea, South Korea, Kuwait, Kazakhstan, Laos, Lebanon, Sri Lanka, Marshall Islands, Myanmar, Mongolia, Maldives, Malaysia, Nepal, Nauru, New Zealand, Oman, Papua New Guinea, Philippines, Pakistan, Palau, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Solomon Islands, Singapore, Syria, Thailand, Tajikistan, Timor-Leste, Turkmenistan, Tonga, Turkey, Tuvalu, Taiwan, Uzbekistan, Vietnam, Vanuatu, Samoa, Yemen

How to Identify

A half woody herb from 1 to 3 m high. It continues to grow from year to year. The bases of the branches are somewhat swollen. The stem is swollen near the nodes or joints. The stem branches 2 to 4 times. The base of the stem has cane like nodes. The leaves are usually rounded at the base and pointed at the tip. They are 15-30 cm long. The leaf bases are very long and wrap around the stem. This sheath can be 8-18 cm long. The flower spike develops in the axils of leaves. Sometimes it is unbranched can can be branched once or twice. It is 20-35 cm long. At each node of the flower stalk is an in-rolled sheath like bract. The flowers are white. The fruit are rounded and are about 1 cm across.

How to Grow

Plants can be grown from seeds.

Wikipedia

Source ↗

Donax is a monotypic genus of flowering plants in the family Marantaceae. It contains only one recognized species, Donax canniformis (G.Forst.) K.Schum, widespread from the Andaman Islands, Myanmar (Burma), southern China, Southeast Asia, New Guinea, Melanesia and Micronesia.

Notes

There are about 3 Donax species.

Names & Synonyms

Bamban, Kudita, Lal, Lias, Mewakal, Neene, Zhu ye jiao

Actoplanes canniformis (G. Forster) K. Sch.Clinogyne grandis Hook.Donax arundastrum LoureiroMaranta grandis Miq.Thalia canniformis Forst.and others

References (10)

Arora, K., Indigenous Forest Management in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, India.
Bot. Jahrb. Syst. 15:440. 1893 "cannaeformis"
Cabalion, P. and Morat, P., 1983, Introduction le vegetation, la flore et aux noms vernaculaires de l'ile de Pentcoste (Vanuatu), In: Journal d'agriculture traditionnelle et de botanique appliquee JATBA Vol. 30, 3-4
Clausager, K. & Bochsenius, F., 2003, The Marantaceae of Sabah, Northern Borneo. Kew Bulletin, Vol. 58, No. 3 (2003), pp. 647-678
Hariyadi, B., 2008, The Entwined Tree: Traditional Natural Resource Management of Serampas, Jambi, Indonesia. Ph. D thesis. Univ. or Hawaii. p 402 (As Donax grandis)
Kuo, W. H. J., (Ed.) Taiwan's Ethnobotanical Database (1900-2000), http://tk.agron.ntu.edu.tw/ethnobot/DB1.htm
Monsalud, M.R., Tongacan, A.L., Lopez, F.R., & Lagrimas, M.Q., 1966, Edible Wild Plants in Philippine Forests. Philippine Journal of Science. p 492
Peekel, P.G., 1984, (Translation E.E.Henty), Flora of the Bismarck Archipelago for Naturalists, Division of Botany, Lae, PNG. p 111, 110
Sukarya, D. G., (Ed.) 2013, 3,500 Plant Species of the Botanic Gardens of Indonesia. LIPI p 1103
Wu Delin, Kennedy, H., Marantaceae. Flora of China. p