Calophyllum inophyllum
Encyclopedia
Calophyllum inophyllum is a large evergreen
. It is native from East Africa
, southern coastal India
to Malesia
and Australia
.
. Because of its decorative leaves
, fragrant flower
s and spreading crown, it is best known as an ornamental plant
.
It is a low-branching and slow-growing tree with a broad and irregular crown. It usually reaches 8 to 20 m (26.2 to 65.6 ft) in height. The flower is 25 millimetre (0.984251968503937 in) wide and occurs in racemose
or paniculate
inflorescence
s consisting of 4 to 15 flowers. Flowering can occur year-round, but usually two distinct flowering periods are observed, in late spring and in late autumn. The fruit (the ballnut) is a round, green drupe
reaching 2 to 4 cm (0.78740157480315 to 1.6 in) in diameter and having a single large seed. When ripe, the fruit is wrinkled and its color varies from yellow to brownish-red.
This tree often grows in coast
al regions as well as nearby lowland
forest
s. However it has also been cultivated successfully in inland areas at moderate altitudes. It tolerates varied kinds of soil
, coastal sand
, clay
or even degraded soil.
this tree is known as punnaga. Punnai and Ponnaakam are the names for the tree in Tamil, found in Cankam Tamil literature (Kuruntokai 5:2; kurincippaattu 91). Punnai in Tamil and its cognates found in other Dravidian languages such as Punna (Malayalam), Ponne, Honne (Kannada), Ponne (Tulu), and Ponna (Telugu) as names of this tree are listed as words of Dravidian etymology (Dravidian Etymological Dictionary, entry No: 4243). The other name Pun-naakam has come in Tamil because the tree is a small variety of the Naaka tree. Punnaga is not a name of Sanskrit origin and the word is not even found in the Sanskrit dictionary of Monier Williams. Pinnai is a colloquial name for the tree in Tamil. The tree is abundantly found in the coastal stretches of Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Sri Lanka and in the Maldives Islands. Many place names in this region have come from the tree. The tree is known as Funa in the Dhivehi language of Maldives and is known as Funaa in the Mahl language of the Minicoy island of the Laccadives. Obviously the terms are cognates of the Dravidian names for the tree in the neighbouring region. Several islands in the Maldives are named after this tree as Funa-dhoo or Fona-dhoo (An Etymological Dictionary of Maldivian Island Names, 2008, P.136). The name of the tree in Elu Sinhala or old Sinhala is Puna (Clough's Sinhala-English Dictionary). In common Sinhala it is known as Domba and there are several species of them such as Tel-domba, Bata-tomba etc. Bats are known to feed on the fruits.
In English this tree is also often called Ballnut or, confusingly, "Alexandrian Laurel" (it is not a laurel
nor native to Alexandria
and not to be confused with the small shrub Danae racemosa
also known as Alexandrian laurel).
In Tahiti
it is called ati or tamanu tree. Several species of the tree grow wild in the tropical climes in the Pacific. In Hawaii
, the tree and nuts are called kamani; in Fiji
the name is dilo, while it is fetau in both Samoa
and Niuē
, and in Tonga
it is fetau or tamanu. In Vanuatu
, the natives call the oil nambagura.
In Philippines, it is called Bitaog. It is abundant in the coastal areas of Luzon and Palawan islands.
, its wood is hard and strong and has been used in construction or boatbuilding. Traditional Pacific Islanders used Calophyllum wood to construct the keel
of their canoe
s while the boat sides were made from breadfruit
(Artocarpus altilis) wood. The seed
s yield a thick, dark green oil
for medicinal use or hair grease. Active ingredients in the oil are believed to regenerate tissue, so is sought after by cosmetics
manufacturers as an ingredient in skin cremes. The nuts should be well dried before cracking, after which the oil-laden kernel
should be further dried. The first neoflavone isolated in 1951 from natural sources was calophyllolide from Calophyllum inophyllum seeds.
The fatty acid
methyl ester of Calophyllum inophyllum seed oil meets the major biodiesel
requirements in the United States
(ASTM
D 6751), and European Union
(EN
14214). The average oil yield is 11.7 kg-oil/tree or 4680 kg-oil/hectare
The tree is regarded as sacred in some Pacific islands because of its excellent growth in sandy soil as shade tree and many uses.
In the northwest coastal areas of Luzon island in Philippines, the oil was used for night lamps. It creates a relaxing aroma. This widespread use started to decline when kerosene became available, and later on electricity.
It was also used as fuel to generate electricity to provide power for radios during World War II.
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...
. It is native from East Africa
East Africa
East Africa or Eastern Africa is the easterly region of the African continent, variably defined by geography or geopolitics. In the UN scheme of geographic regions, 19 territories constitute Eastern Africa:...
, southern coastal India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
to Malesia
Malesia
Malesia is a biogeographical region straddling the boundaries of the Indomalaya ecozone and Australasia ecozone, and also a phytogeographical floristic region in the Paleotropical Kingdom.-Floristic province:...
and Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
.
Distribution and description
Nowadays it is widely cultivated in all tropical regions of the world, including several Pacific IslandsPacific Islands
The Pacific Islands comprise 20,000 to 30,000 islands in the Pacific Ocean. The islands are also sometimes collectively called Oceania, although Oceania is sometimes defined as also including Australasia and the Malay Archipelago....
. Because of its decorative leaves
Leaf
A leaf is an organ of a vascular plant, as defined in botanical terms, and in particular in plant morphology. Foliage is a mass noun that refers to leaves as a feature of plants....
, fragrant flower
Flower
A flower, sometimes known as a bloom or blossom, is the reproductive structure found in flowering plants . The biological function of a flower is to effect reproduction, usually by providing a mechanism for the union of sperm with eggs...
s and spreading crown, it is best known as an ornamental plant
Ornamental plant
Ornamental plants are plants that are grown for decorative purposes in gardens and landscape design projects, as house plants, for cut flowers and specimen display...
.
It is a low-branching and slow-growing tree with a broad and irregular crown. It usually reaches 8 to 20 m (26.2 to 65.6 ft) in height. The flower is 25 millimetre (0.984251968503937 in) wide and occurs in racemose
Raceme
A raceme is a type of inflorescence that is unbranched and indeterminate and bears pedicellate flowers — flowers having short floral stalks called pedicels — along the axis. In botany, axis means a shoot, in this case one bearing the flowers. In a raceme, the oldest flowers are borne...
or paniculate
Panicle
A panicle is a compound raceme, a loose, much-branched indeterminate inflorescence with pedicellate flowers attached along the secondary branches; in other words, a branched cluster of flowers in which the branches are racemes....
inflorescence
Inflorescence
An inflorescence is a group or cluster of flowers arranged on a stem that is composed of a main branch or a complicated arrangement of branches. Strictly, it is the part of the shoot of seed plants where flowers are formed and which is accordingly modified...
s consisting of 4 to 15 flowers. Flowering can occur year-round, but usually two distinct flowering periods are observed, in late spring and in late autumn. The fruit (the ballnut) is a round, green drupe
Drupe
In botany, a drupe is a fruit in which an outer fleshy part surrounds a shell of hardened endocarp with a seed inside. These fruits develop from a single carpel, and mostly from flowers with superior ovaries...
reaching 2 to 4 cm (0.78740157480315 to 1.6 in) in diameter and having a single large seed. When ripe, the fruit is wrinkled and its color varies from yellow to brownish-red.
This tree often grows in coast
Coast
A coastline or seashore is the area where land meets the sea or ocean. A precise line that can be called a coastline cannot be determined due to the dynamic nature of tides. The term "coastal zone" can be used instead, which is a spatial zone where interaction of the sea and land processes occurs...
al regions as well as nearby lowland
Lowland
In physical geography, a lowland is any broad expanse of land with a general low level. The term is thus applied to the landward portion of the upward slope from oceanic depths to continental highlands, to a region of depression in the interior of a mountainous region, to a plain of denudation, or...
forest
Forest
A forest, also referred to as a wood or the woods, is an area with a high density of trees. As with cities, depending where you are in the world, what is considered a forest may vary significantly in size and have various classification according to how and what of the forest is composed...
s. However it has also been cultivated successfully in inland areas at moderate altitudes. It tolerates varied kinds of soil
Soil
Soil is a natural body consisting of layers of mineral constituents of variable thicknesses, which differ from the parent materials in their morphological, physical, chemical, and mineralogical characteristics...
, coastal sand
Sand
Sand is a naturally occurring granular material composed of finely divided rock and mineral particles.The composition of sand is highly variable, depending on the local rock sources and conditions, but the most common constituent of sand in inland continental settings and non-tropical coastal...
, clay
Clay
Clay is a general term including many combinations of one or more clay minerals with traces of metal oxides and organic matter. Geologic clay deposits are mostly composed of phyllosilicate minerals containing variable amounts of water trapped in the mineral structure.- Formation :Clay minerals...
or even degraded soil.
Names
In SanskritSanskrit
Sanskrit , is a historical Indo-Aryan language and the primary liturgical language of Hinduism, Jainism and Buddhism.Buddhism: besides Pali, see Buddhist Hybrid Sanskrit Today, it is listed as one of the 22 scheduled languages of India and is an official language of the state of Uttarakhand...
this tree is known as punnaga. Punnai and Ponnaakam are the names for the tree in Tamil, found in Cankam Tamil literature (Kuruntokai 5:2; kurincippaattu 91). Punnai in Tamil and its cognates found in other Dravidian languages such as Punna (Malayalam), Ponne, Honne (Kannada), Ponne (Tulu), and Ponna (Telugu) as names of this tree are listed as words of Dravidian etymology (Dravidian Etymological Dictionary, entry No: 4243). The other name Pun-naakam has come in Tamil because the tree is a small variety of the Naaka tree. Punnaga is not a name of Sanskrit origin and the word is not even found in the Sanskrit dictionary of Monier Williams. Pinnai is a colloquial name for the tree in Tamil. The tree is abundantly found in the coastal stretches of Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Sri Lanka and in the Maldives Islands. Many place names in this region have come from the tree. The tree is known as Funa in the Dhivehi language of Maldives and is known as Funaa in the Mahl language of the Minicoy island of the Laccadives. Obviously the terms are cognates of the Dravidian names for the tree in the neighbouring region. Several islands in the Maldives are named after this tree as Funa-dhoo or Fona-dhoo (An Etymological Dictionary of Maldivian Island Names, 2008, P.136). The name of the tree in Elu Sinhala or old Sinhala is Puna (Clough's Sinhala-English Dictionary). In common Sinhala it is known as Domba and there are several species of them such as Tel-domba, Bata-tomba etc. Bats are known to feed on the fruits.
In English this tree is also often called Ballnut or, confusingly, "Alexandrian Laurel" (it is not a laurel
Lauraceae
The Lauraceae or Laurel family comprises a group of flowering plants included in the order Laurales. The family contains about 55 genera and over 3500, perhaps as many as 4000, species world-wide, mostly from warm or tropical regions, especially Southeast Asia and South America...
nor native to Alexandria
Alexandria
Alexandria is the second-largest city of Egypt, with a population of 4.1 million, extending about along the coast of the Mediterranean Sea in the north central part of the country; it is also the largest city lying directly on the Mediterranean coast. It is Egypt's largest seaport, serving...
and not to be confused with the small shrub Danae racemosa
Danae (plant)
Danae is a monotypic genus of flowering plants with only one species, Danae racemosa. It is a slow-growing evergreen shrub about 60 cm in diameter and its common names are Alexandrian laurel and Poet's laurel. In the APG III classification system, Danae is placed in the family Asparagaceae,...
also known as Alexandrian laurel).
In Tahiti
Tahiti
Tahiti is the largest island in the Windward group of French Polynesia, located in the archipelago of the Society Islands in the southern Pacific Ocean. It is the economic, cultural and political centre of French Polynesia. The island was formed from volcanic activity and is high and mountainous...
it is called ati or tamanu tree. Several species of the tree grow wild in the tropical climes in the Pacific. In Hawaii
Hawaii
Hawaii is the newest of the 50 U.S. states , and is the only U.S. state made up entirely of islands. It is the northernmost island group in Polynesia, occupying most of an archipelago in the central Pacific Ocean, southwest of the continental United States, southeast of Japan, and northeast of...
, the tree and nuts are called kamani; in Fiji
Fiji
Fiji , officially the Republic of Fiji , is an island nation in Melanesia in the South Pacific Ocean about northeast of New Zealand's North Island...
the name is dilo, while it is fetau in both Samoa
Samoa
Samoa , officially the Independent State of Samoa, formerly known as Western Samoa is a country encompassing the western part of the Samoan Islands in the South Pacific Ocean. It became independent from New Zealand in 1962. The two main islands of Samoa are Upolu and one of the biggest islands in...
and Niuē
Niue
Niue , is an island country in the South Pacific Ocean. It is commonly known as the "Rock of Polynesia", and inhabitants of the island call it "the Rock" for short. Niue is northeast of New Zealand in a triangle between Tonga to the southwest, the Samoas to the northwest, and the Cook Islands to...
, and in Tonga
Tonga
Tonga, officially the Kingdom of Tonga , is a state and an archipelago in the South Pacific Ocean, comprising 176 islands scattered over of ocean in the South Pacific...
it is fetau or tamanu. In Vanuatu
Vanuatu
Vanuatu , officially the Republic of Vanuatu , is an island nation located in the South Pacific Ocean. The archipelago, which is of volcanic origin, is some east of northern Australia, northeast of New Caledonia, west of Fiji, and southeast of the Solomon Islands, near New Guinea.Vanuatu was...
, the natives call the oil nambagura.
In Philippines, it is called Bitaog. It is abundant in the coastal areas of Luzon and Palawan islands.
Uses
Besides being a popular ornamental plantOrnamental plant
Ornamental plants are plants that are grown for decorative purposes in gardens and landscape design projects, as house plants, for cut flowers and specimen display...
, its wood is hard and strong and has been used in construction or boatbuilding. Traditional Pacific Islanders used Calophyllum wood to construct the keel
Keel
In boats and ships, keel can refer to either of two parts: a structural element, or a hydrodynamic element. These parts overlap. As the laying down of the keel is the initial step in construction of a ship, in British and American shipbuilding traditions the construction is dated from this event...
of their canoe
Canoe
A canoe or Canadian canoe is a small narrow boat, typically human-powered, though it may also be powered by sails or small electric or gas motors. Canoes are usually pointed at both bow and stern and are normally open on top, but can be decked over A canoe (North American English) or Canadian...
s while the boat sides were made from breadfruit
Breadfruit
Breadfruit is a species of flowering tree in the mulberry family, Moraceae, growing throughout Southeast Asia and most Pacific Ocean islands...
(Artocarpus altilis) wood. The seed
Seed
A seed is a small embryonic plant enclosed in a covering called the seed coat, usually with some stored food. It is the product of the ripened ovule of gymnosperm and angiosperm plants which occurs after fertilization and some growth within the mother plant...
s yield a thick, dark green oil
Oil
An oil is any substance that is liquid at ambient temperatures and does not mix with water but may mix with other oils and organic solvents. This general definition includes vegetable oils, volatile essential oils, petrochemical oils, and synthetic oils....
for medicinal use or hair grease. Active ingredients in the oil are believed to regenerate tissue, so is sought after by cosmetics
Cosmetics
Cosmetics are substances used to enhance the appearance or odor of the human body. Cosmetics include skin-care creams, lotions, powders, perfumes, lipsticks, fingernail and toe nail polish, eye and facial makeup, towelettes, permanent waves, colored contact lenses, hair colors, hair sprays and...
manufacturers as an ingredient in skin cremes. The nuts should be well dried before cracking, after which the oil-laden kernel
Seed
A seed is a small embryonic plant enclosed in a covering called the seed coat, usually with some stored food. It is the product of the ripened ovule of gymnosperm and angiosperm plants which occurs after fertilization and some growth within the mother plant...
should be further dried. The first neoflavone isolated in 1951 from natural sources was calophyllolide from Calophyllum inophyllum seeds.
The fatty acid
Fatty acid
In chemistry, especially biochemistry, a fatty acid is a carboxylic acid with a long unbranched aliphatic tail , which is either saturated or unsaturated. Most naturally occurring fatty acids have a chain of an even number of carbon atoms, from 4 to 28. Fatty acids are usually derived from...
methyl ester of Calophyllum inophyllum seed oil meets the major biodiesel
Biodiesel
Biodiesel refers to a vegetable oil- or animal fat-based diesel fuel consisting of long-chain alkyl esters. Biodiesel is typically made by chemically reacting lipids with an alcohol....
requirements in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
(ASTM
ASTM International
ASTM International, known until 2001 as the American Society for Testing and Materials , is an international standards organization that develops and publishes voluntary consensus technical standards for a wide range of materials, products, systems, and services...
D 6751), and European Union
European Union
The European Union is an economic and political union of 27 independent member states which are located primarily in Europe. The EU traces its origins from the European Coal and Steel Community and the European Economic Community , formed by six countries in 1958...
(EN
European Committee for Standardization
The European Committee for Standardization or Comité Européen de Normalisation , is a non-profit organisation whose mission is to foster the European economy in global trading, the welfare of European citizens and the environment by providing an efficient infrastructure to interested parties for...
14214). The average oil yield is 11.7 kg-oil/tree or 4680 kg-oil/hectare
The tree is regarded as sacred in some Pacific islands because of its excellent growth in sandy soil as shade tree and many uses.
In the northwest coastal areas of Luzon island in Philippines, the oil was used for night lamps. It creates a relaxing aroma. This widespread use started to decline when kerosene became available, and later on electricity.
It was also used as fuel to generate electricity to provide power for radios during World War II.