Litsea garciae
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Litsea garciae |
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| S.Vidal |
Litsea garciae or Engkala is a tree in the laurel family from Taiwan and the Philippines and probably as far as Indonesia and Malaysia .
description
Litsea garciae grows as an evergreen tree to over 25 meters high. The trunk diameter reaches 40-50 centimeters or more.
The simple, short-stalked, large leaves are arranged alternately to almost whorled. The short petiole is up to 2.5 inches long. The entire, pale green on the underside, dark green and leathery leaves on the upper side are 25–55 centimeters long. They are egg-shaped, -lanceolate to obovate, -eilanceolate and pointed to pointed. The younger leaves are dense, silky and hairy on the underside. The stipules are missing.
Litsea garciae is dioecious diocesan . Axillary, small and racemose inflorescences with individual flowers or dense, golden , smaller groups of flowers with several, each boat-shaped, mostly permanent bracts are formed. The short-stalked and functionally unisexual flowers are white-greenish. The simple flower cover is in several parts, with narrow (mostly 6) tepals and sloping early. The male flowers have some (about 9-15) stamens , the inner ones with glands at the base, and sometimes a pistillode or, rarely, staminodes. The female flowers have mostly (about 9-15) Staminodien and a semi-permanent upper punch in the wrong-kegelfömigen flower cups , with thick, relatively short stylus and lobed stigma .
Green, pink to reddish or purple, immature white, mushroom-shaped, somewhat flattened, round and single-seeded, smooth fruits are formed. They are up to 3–4 centimeters in size, about hemispherical and sit in a green, fleshy and cup-shaped, enlarged flower, "fruit cup" and flower stalk. The smooth, brown and tipped seed is quite large.
use
The somewhat bland, avocado-like fruits with soft, creamy and whitish-greenish flesh are edible. They are used raw or cooked. The unripe, green fruits are pickled in vinegar and brine.
An oil can be obtained from the seeds, which is used to make soaps or candles.
The wood is not very durable and is relatively soft, it is known as medang .
literature
- K. Kubitzki , JG Rohwer , V. Bittrich: The Families and Genera of Vascular Plants. Vol. II: Flowering Plants Dicotyledons , Springer, 1993, ISBN 3-540-55509-9 , p. 388.
- TK Lim: Edible Medicinal And Non Medicinal Plants. Volume 3: Fruits , Springer, 2012, ISBN 978-94-007-2534-8 , pp. 75 ff.
- FSP Ng: Taxonomic Notes on Bornean Litsea, Lindera, Neolitsea and Iteadaphne (Lauraceae). In: Gardens' Bulletin Singapore. 57, Part 2, 2005, pp. 217-246, online at biodiversitylibrary.org.
Web links
- Litsea garciae at Useful Tropical Plants.
- Litsea garciae in the Flora of China, Vol. 7.
- Litsea garciae at asianplant.net.
- Litsea garciae at Phytoimages (pictures).