Elaeagnus triflora

Roxb.

Millaa vine

ElaeagnaceaeFruit

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(c) Arthur Chapman, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC-SA)

iNaturalist · cc-by-nc
(c) JODY HSIEH, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC)

What to Eat

Edible parts: Fruit

Fruit - raw or cooked. A sweet flavour when fully ripe. Juicy, with a tart-sweet flavour, they are pleasant to eat out of hand when fully ripe. Some forms are delicious. The fruit can also be used to make a highly coloured jelly. The fruits are 20 - 25mm long and contain a single large seed. Seed - raw or cooked. A flavour somewhat resembling a peanut, it is rather nice if eaten with the fruit, although the fibrous seed case would have to be spat out afterwards.

Where to Find It

A tropical plant. It grows in upland tropical rain forest. It grows up to 1,800 m above sea level. They are distributed throughout the islands of the Philippines and common in northern provinces. They grow in areas of shrub at low and medium altitudes up to 1500m. It is very salt tolerant. It can only tolerate very slight frost. It can grow on a range of soils and will grow on alkaline soils. Adelaide Botanical Gardens.

Asia, Australia, East Timor, Hawaii, Indonesia, Malaysia, Malesia, Pacific, Papua New Guinea, PNG, Philippines, SE Asia, Taiwan, Timor-Leste, USA,

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, United States, Uzbekistan, Vietnam, Vanuatu, Samoa, Yemen

How to Identify

A vine or climber. It can be 10 m tall. The stems are erect but is leans of plants nearby. The leaves are pointed at both ends and carried alternately.Young shoots have silvery scales. The leaves are simple and 3-15 cm long by 3-5 cm wide. The leaves are silvery underneath. The flowers are in spikes or clusters in the axils of leaves or at the ends of branches. The flowers are 0.5 cm across. The fruit is 2 cm long by 1.2 cm wide. They hang singly or in bunches in the axils of leaves. There is one seed inside. It is 1.8 cm long by 0.8 cm wide. The flesh of the fruit is edible.

How to Grow

It can be grown from fresh seed or cuttings. It can be pruned to maintain shape.

Propagation: Seed - best sown as soon as it is ripe in a cold frame. It should germinate within a few weeks, though it may take 18 months. Stored seed can be very slow to germinate, often taking more than 18 months. A warm stratification for 4 weeks followed by 12 weeks cold stratification can help. (This information on stratification is probably not so appropriate to this species since it does not experience much frost in its native habitat). The seed usually (eventually) germinates quite well. Prick out the seedlings into individual pot as soon as they are large enough to handle and plant out when they are at least 15cm tall. Cuttings of half-ripe wood, 7 - 10cm with a heel. Cuttings of mature wood of the current year's growth, 10 - 12cm with a heel, in a frame. The cuttings are rather slow and difficult to root, leave them for 12 months. Layering takes 12 months.

Medicinal Uses

The ripe fruit is astringent. It is given to children suffering from amoebic dysentery. The flowers are astringent and cardiac.

Other Uses

Plants are very tolerant of trimming and can be grown as a fairly large, dense hedge.

Wikipedia

Source ↗

Elaeagnus triflora, commonly known as millaa millaa vine, is a scrambling shrub the family Elaeagnaceae. Its native range is Malesia and Papuasia, to Taiwan in the north and the Australian state of Queensland in the south.

Other Information

The fruit are often eaten by children.

Notes

There are 45 Elaeagnus species.

Names & Synonyms

Alingaro, Areuj dudureman, Banaken, Bennaken, Gumi, Hail hail, Kenintju, Kopapey, Lingaro, Millaa Millaa, Suytuk

Elaeagnus alingaro Schltdl.Elaeagnus cumingii Schltdl.Elaeagnus ferruginea Rich.Elaeagnus latiflora L.Elaeagnus philippensis Perr.Elaeagnus philippinensis Perr.Elaeagnus rigida BlumeElaeagnus rostrata Servett.Elaeagnus zollingeri Servett.and others

References (28)

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