Dracontomelon dao

Dracontomelon dao, the Argus pheasant-tree, Pacific walnut, Papuan walnut, New Guinea walnut, paldao or simply dao, is a tree in the family Anacardiaceae, native to tropical Asia.

Description

A large tree up to 50 m tall and with an umbrella shaped crown of leaves. It often has buttresses at the base. The leaves are hairy and compound with both the leaflets and leaves carried alternately. The leaves come one after the other on opposite sides and have 5 to 7 pairs of leaflets. The leaves are pointed at the end and bluntly pointed at the base. The leaflets have a smooth edge. Young leaves are reddish colour. The flowers are small white, with no smell and carried as several on a stalk. The fruit are yellow and round. The fruit is 2-3 cm across and has 5 flecks around it. There is little edible flesh around a flattened seed.

Edible Uses

The fruit is an ingredient in some popular Vietnamese dishes, made into a syrup for mixing into cold drinks, and can be dried and preserved as a snack.

Traditional Uses

The fleshy part of the fruit is eaten raw. It is sour. They are used as a sour relish. They are used to flavour curries. The fruit can be cooked with soy sauce and eaten with rice. The flowers and leaves can be cooked and eaten as a vegetable. The kernel inside the seed is edible. CAUTION The sap of the tree may be irritating and /or poisonous.

Medicinal Uses

A decoction from the stem of the Lamyo is drunk by the Ayta people of Bataan as a treatment for wound infections. The bark is used in the treatment of dysentery and in traditional medicine to provoke an abortion The fruit is depurative. It is used in the treatment of dermatitis. The mature fruits are used in dentistry

Known Hazards

The sap of the tree may be irritating and /or poisonous.

Distribution

A tropical plant. It grows in lowland rainforest and in valleys up to about 800 m. It occurs in high rainfall areas. It grows in areas with an annual rainfall between 1,800-2,900 mm. It is common throughout the Philippines at low altitudes. The tree also occurs in other SE Asian countries. They are common from northern Luzon to southern Mindanao in the Philippines.

Where It Grows

Andaman Islands, Asia, Bougainville, Brunei, Cambodia, China, East Timor, Fiji, India, Indochina, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Pacific, Papua New Guinea*, PNG, Philippines*, SE Asia, Solomon Islands, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Timor-Leste, Vietnam,

Cultivation

Trees are grown from seed. Seeds germinate in 28-67 days. Many trees grow wild. The fruit are crushed and the seed removed.

Propagation

Seed - Propagation is usually by seed. Trees can also be established by direct sowing and wildings as it regenerates easily Seed should be extracted immediately after the fleshy fruits have been collected. Pulp and seed can be separated by maceration. There are 520-620 seeds/kg. Seeds are recalcitrant and there is a 33 % germination when sown fresh and no germination at all after 6 months under ambient conditions in Java. In Malaysia, 85-95 % of fresh seeds germinate after 28-67 days

Other Uses

The heartwood is greyish, greenish-yellow to walnut brown, often with irregular dark brown to nearly black bands or fine streaks; it is more or less clearly differentiated from the up to 10cm wide band of pale yellow with pinkish or greyish tinge s sapwood. The grain is straight or interlocked, texture moderately coarse to coarse and even, lustrous, wavy grain sometimes producing a coarse fiddle-back figure. The wood is soft, moderately heavy, not very durable. It is used for veneers, furniture, plywood, boxes, matches interior trim and light frames. The tree is used for firewood.

Production

It flowers and fruits throughout most of the year. Leaf fall and a fruit flush follows a dry spell. Trees can produce after 3-4 years. An average fruit weighs 17 g. The season normally coincides with the breadfruit and mango season. The fruit turn slightly yellow when ripe and the seed inside turns brown. If the seed inside is white, then the fruit is not ripe.

Other Information

The fruit are sold in markets. The tree is common in coastal areas of Papua New Guinea, but the popularity of the fruit varies. In Madang it is a most popular fruit.

Notes

Mon Dracontomelon dao What is Mon? Mon is the Tok Pisin name of a common coastal tree which has edible fruit. Scientists have given it the Latin name Dracontomelon dao. This name was first given to the tree in 1908. Other scientific names were originally given. Two other names still sometimes used are Dracontomelon mangiferum and Dracontomelon puberulum. They all refer to the same plant. What is Mon like? It is a large forest tree with large buttresses at the base. The tree is in the mango family and has leaves made up of about 6 to 10 pairs of leaflets along a stalk. The flowers are small and grow as a group of small flowers at the ends of branches. They are pale yellow and about 1 cm wide. The fruit are round, 3 or 4 centimetres across and have a small amount of edible flesh around a large seed. The fruit turn yellow when ripe. The fruit have 5 small scale like flakes around the middle. The wood of the Mon tree is pale brown with black stripes and is sold as a timber called New Guinea walnut. Where do Mon grow? Mon trees are tropical trees and grow in several Asian countries including Papua New Guinea. Countries which have Mon include Thailand, India, China, Cambodia, Malaysia, Indonesia, Philippines, Papua New Guinea and the Solomon Islands. The tree only grows properly in high rainfall areas and are mostly in coastal areas but sometimes up to 500 or 1000 metres altitude. Trees are more common along rivers and are also planted in villages. In Papua New Guinea, mon trees are particularly popular as fruits in the Madang Province. Trees in the bush inland often have smaller fruit which are more sour. Fruit near the coast are larger and sweeter. How do you grow Mon fruit? Mon trees often grow naturally in the lowland bush. But in areas where mon are popular, and where sweeter kinds of mon occur, trees are planted. They are grown by using the seed our of the centre of a fruit. If the tree is well looked after and well grown, it can start producing fruit after 3-4 years. Using Mon fruit. Mon fruit are produced seasonally. The season normally coincides with the breadfruit and mango season. The fruit turn slightly yellow when ripe and the seed inside turns brown. If the seed inside is white, then the fruit is not ripe.

Synonyms

Also Known As

Alauihau, Argus pheasant tree, Basuong, Belgian walnut, Bengkuang, Challigan, Chengkuang, Dahu, Dar, Dau, Djakan, Halowihaw, Jan-mien-tzu, Ka-kho, Kamarag, Ko, Lamio, Ngar-bauk, Ngkung, Paldao, Paya-ngar-su, Peldao, Pohon dahu, Prachao haa, Ra, Rau, Saentaalom, Sakal, Sa-kuan, Sang-kuan, Sarunsab, Sau, Sekuang, Sengkuang, Singkuang, Sorosob, Surgan, Suronsub, Tako, Takuu, Talantjap, Tarosoup, Taw-thit-kya, Tehrengzeb, Ungkawang, Urui, Yun meen

References (48)

• Alegado, A. M. & De Guzman, R. B., 2014, Indigenous food crops of the Aetas tribe in the Philippines and their traditional methods of food preparation. in Promotion of Underutilized Indigenous Food Resources for Food Security and Nutrition in Asia and Pacific. FAO. Bangkok p 160 (As Dracontomelon edule)
• Ambasta, S.P. (Ed.), 2000, The Useful Plants of India. CSIR India. p 183 (As Dracontomelon mangiferum)
• Arora, R. K., 2014, Diversity in Underutilized Plant Species - An Asia-Pacific Perspective. Bioversity International. p 68
• Blench, R., 2004, Fruits and Arboriculture in the Indo-Pacific Region. Indo-Pacific Prehistory Association Bulletin 24. (Taipei Papers Volume 2) p 37
• Borrell, O.W., 1989, An Annotated Checklist of the Flora of Kairiru Island, New Guinea. Marcellin College, Victoria Australia. p 49

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