Elaeocarpus nitentifolius
Merr. et Chun
Com la bong
ElaeocarpaceaeFruit
gbif · cc0
President and Fellows of Harvard College
President and Fellows of Harvard College
What to Eat
Edible parts: Fruit
The fruits are eaten.
Where to Find It
A tropical plant. It grows in secondary forests. In central Vietnam it grows between 150-900 altitude. It is shade tolerant when young. In southern China it grows in evergreen forests at about 1,400 m above sea level. In Yunnan.
Asia, China, Indochina, SE Asia, Vietnam,
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 medium sized tree. It grows to 20 m tall. The trunk is straight. The leaves are 8-15 cm tall by 4-8 cm wide. They are silvery white underneath. The fruit are shiny and oval. They are 2 cm long by 1 cm wide. There is one seed. It is 1 cm long.
Production
In China plants flower April to May.
Notes
There are about 360 Elaeocarpus species mostly in the tropics.
References (1)
- Forest Inventory and Planning Institute, 1996, Vietnam Forest Trees. Agriculture Publishing House p 169
