Uvaria rufa, commonly known as Susung-kalabaw ('Carabao

Carabao

The carabao or Bubalus bubalis carabanesis is a subspecies of the domesticated water buffalo found in the Philippines, Guam, Indonesia, Malaysia, and various parts of Southeast Asia...

 teats') is a species of plant

Plant

Plants are living organisms belonging to the kingdom Plantae. Precise definitions of the kingdom vary, but as the term is used here, plants include familiar organisms such as trees, flowers, herbs, bushes, grasses, vines, ferns, mosses, and green algae. The group is also called green plants or...

 in the Annonaceae

Annonaceae

Annonaceae, also called the custard apple familyis a family of flowering plants consisting of trees, shrubs or rarely lianas.With about 2300 to 2500 species and more than 130 genera,...

 family. It is endemic to the Philippines

Philippines

The Philippines , officially known as the Republic of the Philippines , is a country in Southeast Asia in the western Pacific Ocean. To its north across the Luzon Strait lies Taiwan. West across the South China Sea sits Vietnam...

.

Description

Uvaria rufa are monoecious evergreen trees which grow to a height of 4 to 6 meters. Their deep green leaves are arranged alternately and have a heart-shaped base. The surface are velvety and coarse to the touch. The flowers are small and have deep red waxy petals. The fruits, which appear from May to August, are aggregates of round or obling berries colored deep orange or a rich red. Each contain numerous seeds encased in a translucent pulp.

Uses

The fruits of Uvaria rufa are edible, having a sharp sweet-sour taste. They are known colloquially as suso ng kalabaw or susung-kalabaw ('Carabao teats') because of its physical appearance.

The wood is also used as a Rattan

Rattan

Rattan is the name for the roughly 600 species of palms in the tribe Calameae, native to tropical regions of Africa, Asia and Australasia.- Structure :...

substitute in making furniture and handicrafts.