Canarium ovatum
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Canarium ovatum or the pilin nut tree is a species of the genus Canarium within the balsam tree family(Burseraceae). It provides an edible fruit Kedongdong , English pili nut , German Pilinuss . The original home is in the Philippines , but this species is also grown in other places in the tropics.
Canarium indicum (canary nut) and Canarium luzonicum provide similar fruits and “nuts” ; also as pili.
description
Appearance and leaf
Canarium ovatum grows as an evergreen tree and reaches heights of up to about 20 meters and trunk diameters of about 50 centimeters. It has a resinous wood and is resistant to wind. It forms a symmetrical treetop . The tree carries a resin , Elemi .
The alternate and spirally arranged leaves on the branches are about 40 centimeters long and pinnate unpaired. The five to nine, shiny leaflets are 4 to 24 centimeters long and 2 to 12 centimeters wide, ovate to elliptical, stiff and leathery, with a smooth edge and a partially uneven, rounded to almost heart-shaped base. The tip is pointed or pointed to tail, the pinnate, light green veins has eight to twelve pairs of lateral nerves. The stipules adhere long, they are triangular to tongue-shaped and 5 to 20 millimeters long with a width of 3 to 10 millimeters.
Inflorescence, flower and flower ecology
Canarium ovatum is dioecious separately sexed dioecious . Mostly male and female trees are formed, but male trees with hermaphrodite flowers are also possible. Simultaneously with the sprouting of new leaves, which is between March and June in the Philippines, axillary, zymous (narrow thyrsoid), 3 to 12 centimeter long inflorescences are formed at the ends of young twigs , which contain some very short-stalked flowers . The male inflorescences are much larger. In the inflorescences, the flowers bloom from bottom to top.
The unisexual flowers are downy hairy, up to 12 millimeters long and threefold. The cup-shaped calyxes are up to 7 millimeters long in the male flowers and 8 to 9 millimeters long in the female flowers. The three petals are 2 inches long and 1 inch wide. In the male flowers, the 2 × 3 fertile stamens are somewhat fused with the disc , and a pestle is also present. There are six staminodes in the female flowers and the three carpels are fused to form a three- chamber ovary; the stamp is about 7 millimeters long. Each ovary chamber contains two ovules , but usually only one of them develops. The flowers open between 4 p.m. and 6 p.m. and at the same time or shortly afterwards the pollen is released and the stigmas can be pollinated. Pollination occurs by insects ( entomophilia ). The fertilization rate is around 85%. If the pollination was successful, after about a week the ovary begins to enlarge and the petals fall off.
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Fruit and seeds
With seedling plants, the trees bear fruit after five to six years, with vegetatively propagated plants already three to four years after planting. It takes about ten months from pollination to fruit ripening. The stone fruit is ovoid to ellipsoidal in cross-section and triangular with a length of 3.5 to 7 centimeters and a diameter of 2.3 to 3.8 centimeters. When ripe, the fruits weigh between 15.7 and 45.7 g. The fruit skin ( exocarp ) is smooth, thin and shiny; it is initially greenish and turns purple-black when ripe. The fruit pulp ( mesocarp ) is fibrous, fleshy, thick and greenish-yellow. The tan to dirty brown, hard, triangular, flattened and porous endocarp (stone core, nut) is pointed at the lower end and often more or less blunt to round-pointed at the upper end. The inner layer of the endocarp forms a thin, brownish, fibrous seed coat close to the mostly one seed . A large part of the seed weight make the two cotyledons ( cotyledons ) from about 4.1 to 16.6% of the fruit weight and consists of 8% carbohydrates, 11.5 to 13.9% protein and 70% fat. On some trees, the seeds are bitter, fibrous and have a turpentine odor.
The number of chromosomes is 2n = 46.
use
The seeds of the pili nuts are eaten raw or roasted with honey , whole or ground to make sweets . An oil (pilin oil) can be pressed from the seeds, which is mainly composed of oleic acid and palmitic acid . The annual yield of a tree from the age of about 6 years is up to 32 kg of raw kernels. The oily pulp can be eaten cooked, or an oil can be pressed from it. Young sprouts are also eaten.
The wood is used as firewood, as is the woody shell around the seed. The porous stone core shells can be used as a plant substrate , similar to expanded clay .
Occurrence
Canarium ovatum is native to the Philippines ; it is common and wild in southern Luzon , and parts of Visaya and Mindanao in the lower and middle floors of the primeval forests.
literature
- Roberto E. Coronel, J. Heller, Johannes MM Engels: Pili nut, Canarium ovatum Engl. Volume 6 of Promoting the conservation and use of underutilized and neglected crops , IPGRI, 1996, ISBN 92-9043-296-9 .
- Francis T. Zee: Pili Nut. at Horticulture and Landscape Architecture - Purdue University, accessed November 14, 2018.
- Rafael T. Cadiz: Canarium ovatum fruit, Burseraceae (PDF; 556 kB), In: C. Orwa, A. Mutua, R. Kindt, R. Jamnadass & A. Simons, 2009: Agroforestree Database 4.0.
Web links
- Canarium ovatum at Useful Tropical Plants, accessed November 14, 2018.