Canarium pseudodecumanum

Hochr.

Burseraceae Edible: Seeds kernel, Nuts, Fruit, Seeds - oil

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President and Fellows of Harvard College

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President and Fellows of Harvard College

Summary

Source: Wikipedia

Canarium pseudodecumanum is a tree of tropical Asia in the incense tree family Burseraceae. The specific epithet pseudodecumanum is from the Latin meaning "false decumanum", referring to the species' resemblance to Canarium decumanum.

Description

A large tree. It grows 40 m tall. It has buttresses 6 m high. It can have stilt roots. The trunk can be 120 cm across. The bark is white. The small branches are angular. The leaves have 4-6 pairs of leaflets. The leaves are 17-23 cm long by 7-11 cm wide. The leaflets are almost without stalks. They are sword shaped and taper to the tip. There are small teeth along the edge. The leaflets have a woolly covering underneath. The flowers are softly hairy. The fruit are large. They are 7-8 cm long by 4-6 cm wide. They are edible. The seed are eaten and used for oil.

Edible Uses

The tree's resin is used in boat construction. The fruit is considered edible. The seeds produce an edible oil.

Traditional Uses

The fruit are eaten. The seeds can be eaten. They are also used for oil.

This uses section is brief — help expand it

Distribution

A tropical plant. It grows in lowland forests up to 280 m above sea level.

Where It Grows

Asia, Indonesia, Malaysia, SE Asia,

Cultivation

Plants are grown from seeds.

Propagation

Seed - we have no specific information for this species but seeds of this genus generally have a hard seed coat and germinate erratically. Filing away some of the seed coat to allow moisture to enter more readily, without damaging the seed, will encourage a faster and more even germination.

Other Uses

An abundant resin obtained from the tree is used locally for caulking canoes. The wood is very soft. The wood of most species in the genus Canarium is usually soft to moderately hard and probably not very durable in exposed positions. It is not, therefore of any great commercial value and is only used locally or not at all. This species is one of the sources of kedondong timber, which is obtained from several species in the family Burseraceae. We do not have a specific description of the wood for this species, but the general description of kedondong wood is as follows:- The heartwood is generally a light brown; it is not sharply demarcated from the 3 - 5cm wide band of lighter-coloured sapwood. The texture is moderately fine and even; the grain is interlocked to wavy; the surface is lustrous. The wood is light in weight; moderately hard; not very durable, being susceptible to fungi, dry wood borers and termites. It seasons somewhat slowly with only a slight risk of checking and distortion; once dry it is moderately stable to stable in service. The wood has a fairly high blunting effect, stellite-tipped and tungsten carbide tools are recommended; it is moderately easy to slightly difficult to plane; finishes smooth to rough; can be easy to very difficult to bore; slightly difficult to difficult to turn; nailing and screwing properties are good; gluing is correct. The wood is suitable for internal use as a general utility timber for planking, cladding, plywood, flooring, furniture, packing cases, pallets and general carpentry work.

Other Information

It is widely cultivated in Sarawak for its edible fruit.

Notes

There are 80-95 Canarium species.

Synonyms

Canariopsis decumana (non Bl.) Miq.Canarium decumanum (non Gaertn.) Engl. in DC.

Also Known As

Jelmu, Lantu air, Tampang kijang

References (8)

Bircher, A. G. & Bircher, W. H., 2000, Encyclopedia of Fruit Trees and Edible Flowering Plants in Egypt and the Subtropics. AUC Press. p 79
Leenhouts, P.W., 1955, Burseraceae in Flora Malesiana 5(1) p 275
Leenhouts, P.W., 1958,
Slik, F., www.asianplant.net
Soepadmo, E. and Wong, K. M., 1995, Tree Flora of Sabah and Sarawak. Forestry Malaysia. Volume One. p 48

Show all 8 references