Gluta renghas

Rengas

Anacardiaceae Edible: Seeds, Nuts Potential hazards — see below 32 iNaturalist observations

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Summary

Gluta renghas, commonly known as the rengas, is a species of plant in the family Anacardiaceae. It is found in Indonesia. Some rengas trees secrete an oil that can cause painful blistering rashes in orangutans and possibly humans too.

Description

A large tree. It grows 50 m tall. The trunk can be 1.2 m across. It can have buttresses. The sap causes irritations. The leaves are narrowly oval and have a rounded tip. They are 8-28 cm long by 4-9 cm wide. They have short leaf stalks. The flowers are white and irregular. The fruit is a flattened round shape and 5 cm across. The fruit is pinkish-brown and have irregular projecting parts.

Edible Uses

Seeds are eaten after roasting.

Traditional Uses

CAUTION: The sap is poisonous. The seeds are eaten after roasting.

This uses section is brief — help expand it

Known Hazards

Brief contact with the plant can cause allergies and chemical irritation of the skin. The sap can cause dermatitis. A resinous exudate from the wood can cause severe skin irritation. The smoke of the burning wood can cause severe irritation, particularly to the eyes.

Distribution

A tropical plant. It grows along rivers. It is mostly in coastal regions and in peat swamps. It can grow up to 800 m above sea level.

Where It Grows

Asia, Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, SE Asia, Singapore, Thailand,

Cultivation

Plants can be grown from seeds.

Other Uses

The reddish-brown wood is not very hard, very strong, fairly light, durable and easy to split. It has splendid markings and is used for furniture, building material for houses, canoes, fancy articles and inlay work. A resinous exudate from the wood can cause severe skin irritation. The poisonous constituent of the resinous sap is volatile and will gradually disappear. For this reason, the timber of rengas trees must be dried and exposed for several years as it is otherwise dangerous to handle. Lacquered articles or furniture made from the dried timber may still be toxic to persons who are especially susceptible.

Synonyms

Stagmaria verniciflua Jack ex Hook.

Also Known As

Ingas, Jitong, Rak baan, Rak khao, Rengas ayer, Rengas burung, Rengas tembaga, Thayet-thitsi

References (10)

Burkill, I.H., 1966, A Dictionary of the Economic Products of the Malay Peninsula. Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Vol 1 (A-H) p 1097
Chayamarit, K., 1994, Preliminary Checklist of the Family Anacardiaceae in Thailand. Thai For. Bull. 22:1-25
Fern, K., 2012, Tropical Species Database http://theferns.info/tropical/
Giesen, W., 2013, Paludiculture: sustainable alternatives on degraded peat land in Indonesia (revised draft)
Kebler, P. J. A., & Kidiyasa, 1994, Trees of the Balikpapan-Samarinda area of East Kalimantan, Indonesia. The Tropenbos Foundation, Wageningen, The Netherlands. p 40

Show all 10 references

Mant. pl. 2:293. 1771 "benghas"
Menninger, E.A., 1977, Edible Nuts of the World. Horticultural Books. Florida p 51
Sukarya, D. G., (Ed.) 2013, 3,500 Plant Species of the Botanic Gardens of Indonesia. LIPI p 307
Wickens, G.E., 1995, Edible Nuts. FAO Non-wood forest products. FAO, Rome. p 106
World Checklist of Useful Plant Species 2020. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew