Bouea macrophylla is a tropical fruit tree native to Southeast Asia

Southeast Asia

Southeast Asia, South-East Asia, South East Asia or Southeastern Asia is a subregion of Asia, consisting of the countries that are geographically south of China, east of India, west of New Guinea and north of Australia. The region lies on the intersection of geological plates, with heavy seismic...

. The tree belongs to the family Anacardiaceae

Anacardiaceae

Anacardiaceae are a family of flowering plants bearing fruits that are drupes and in some cases producing urushiol, an irritant. Anacardiaceae include numerous genera with several of economic importance. Notable plants in this family include cashew , mango, poison ivy, sumac, smoke tree, and marula...

, and is related to the mango

Mango

The mango is a fleshy stone fruit belonging to the genus Mangifera, consisting of numerous tropical fruiting trees in the flowering plant family Anacardiaceae. The mango is native to India from where it spread all over the world. It is also the most cultivated fruit of the tropical world. While...

.

Description

The evergreen

Evergreen

In botany, an evergreen plant is a plant that has leaves in all seasons. This contrasts with deciduous plants, which completely lose their foliage during the winter or dry season.There are many different kinds of evergreen plants, both trees and shrubs...

 tree grows to height of 25 meters. Its leaves are lanceolate to elliptic in shape (see: Leaf shape

Leaf shape

In botany, leaf shape is characterised with the following terms :* Acicular : Slender and pointed, needle-like* Acuminate : Tapering to a long point...

), and range from 13 to 45 cm (5 to 17 inches) long and from 5 to 7 cm (2 to 3 inches) wide.

The fruit (resembling a mango) are green

Green

Green is a color, the perception of which is evoked by light having a spectrum dominated by energy with a wavelength of roughly 520–570 nanometres. In the subtractive color system, it is not a primary color, but is created out of a mixture of yellow and blue, or yellow and cyan; it is considered...

 in colour and mature to an orange

Orange (colour)

The colour orange occurs between red and yellow in the visible spectrum at a wavelength of about 585–620 nm, and has a hue of 30° in HSV colour space. It is numerically halfway between red and yellow in a gamma-compressed RGB colour space, the expression of which is the RGB colour wheel. The...

/yellow

Yellow

Yellow is the color evoked by light that stimulates both the L and M cone cells of the retina about equally, with no significant stimulation of the S cone cells. Light with a wavelength of 570–590 nm is yellow, as is light with a suitable mixture of red and green...

. They grow to roughly 2 to 5 cm (0.7 to 1.9 inches) in diameter

Diameter

In geometry, a diameter of a circle is any straight line segment that passes through the center of the circle and whose endpoints are on the circle. The diameters are the longest chords of the circle...

. The entire fruit, including its single seed, is edible. The fruit range from sweet to sour in flavour, and have a light smell of turpentine

Turpentine

Turpentine is a fluid obtained by the distillation of resin obtained from trees, mainly pine trees. It is composed of terpenes, mainly the monoterpenes alpha-pinene and beta-pinene...

.

Flowering and fruiting times differ for Thailand

Thailand

Thailand , officially the Kingdom of Thailand , formerly known as Siam , is a country located at the centre of the Indochina peninsula and Southeast Asia. It is bordered to the north by Burma and Laos, to the east by Laos and Cambodia, to the south by the Gulf of Thailand and Malaysia, and to the...

 and Indonesia

Indonesia

Indonesia , officially the Republic of Indonesia , is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania. Indonesia is an archipelago comprising approximately 13,000 islands. It has 33 provinces with over 238 million people, and is the world's fourth most populous country. Indonesia is a republic, with an...

.

• Thailand : flowers in November to December, and fruit appears from April to May.
• Indonesia : flowers in June to November, and fruit appears from March to June.

Distribution

The tree is native to Malaysia, West Java

West Java

West Java , with a population of over 43 million, is the most populous and most densely populated province of Indonesia. Located on the island of Java, it is slightly smaller in area than densely populated Taiwan, but with nearly double the population...

, Burma and North Sumatra

North Sumatra

North Sumatra is a province of Indonesia on the Sumatra island. Its capital is Medan. It is the most populous Indonesian province outside of Java. It is slightly larger than Sri Lanka in area.- Geography and population :...

. It is also found in Thailand, Indonesia, and Malaysia, where it is commercially grown.

It is not usually found above an altitude of 305 meters (1000 ft), but has been cultivated at altitudes of about 850 meters (2789 ft).

Consumption

Both the leaves and fruit from the tree can be eaten. The leaves can be eaten raw when they are still young, and can be used in salad

Salad

Salad is any of a wide variety of dishes, including vegetable salads; salads of pasta, legumes, eggs, or grains; mixed salads incorporating meat, poultry, or seafood; and fruit salads. They may include a mixture of cold and hot, often including raw vegetables or fruits.Green salads include leaf...

s. While the seed is edible, the endosperm

Endosperm

Endosperm is the tissue produced inside the seeds of most flowering plants around the time of fertilization. It surrounds the embryo and provides nutrition in the form of starch, though it can also contain oils and protein. This makes endosperm an important source of nutrition in human diet...

 is generally bitter. Fruit can be eaten raw, or made into dishes such as pickle

Pickling

Pickling, also known as brining or corning is the process of preserving food by anaerobic fermentation in brine to produce lactic acid, or marinating and storing it in an acid solution, usually vinegar . The resulting food is called a pickle. This procedure gives the food a salty or sour taste...

, compote

Compote

Compote is a dessert originating from 17th century France made of whole or pieces of fruit in sugar syrup. Whole fruits are immersed in water and with sugar and spices added to the dish, over gentle heat. The syrup may be seasoned with vanilla, lemon or orange peel, cinnamon sticks or powder,...

, or sambal

Sambal

Sambal is a chili based sauce which is normally used as a condiment. Sambals are popular in Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, the southern Philippines and Sri Lanka, as well as in the Netherlands and in Suriname through Javanese influence. It is typically made from a variety of chili peppers and is...

. Unripened fruit can be used to make rojak

Rojak

Rojak or Rujak is a traditional fruit and vegetable salad dish commonly found in Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore...

 and asinan

Asinan

Asinan is a pickled vegetables or fruits dish, commonly found in Indonesia. The term asin is Indonesian word for "salty", which explain the process of preserving the ingredients through soaking it in the solution of salt water. Asinan is quite similar to rujak, the difference is rujak usually...

.

Functional

The entire tree can be used as an ornamental fruit bearing shade tree

Shade tree

A shade tree is any tree grown specifically for its shade. This term usually applies to large trees with spreading canopies. Shade trees are effective in reducing the energy used in cooling homes....

 due to its dense foliage.

Other names

Bouea macrophylla is commonly known in English

English language

English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...

as the marian plum, gandaria, and plum mango. It is also known as ma-praang and ma-yong (Thailand), ramania and gandaria (Indonesia), mayun-thee (Burma), and kundang, rembunia, and setar (Malaysia).

Sources

Bouea macrophylla taxonomy

Montoso gardens

Species with potential for commercial development

Mansfeld database

AgroForestryTree Database