Salacca glabrescens (PROSEA)

Plant Resources of South-East Asia Introduction

List of species

Salacca glabrescens Griffith

Family: Palmae

Vernacular names

• Peninsular Malaysia: salak hutan, pokok rengam.

Distribution

Peninsular Malaysia.

Uses

The fruits are eaten as a substitute for the true "salak" to which they are inferior in taste.

Observations

• Stemless, dioecious, clustering, armed palm with pinnate leaves up to 5 m long.
• Fruit drupe-like, fusiform globose, 2.5 cm long, with dark brown scales ending in upcurved points.
• Seeds 2.

Rather common in forests, up to 1200 m altitude.

Selected sources

• Burkill, I.H., 1966. A dictionary of the economic products of the Malay Peninsula. 2nd ed. 2 Volumes. Ministry of Agriculture and Co-operatives, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. 2444 pp.

• Ridley, H.N., 1922-1925. The Flora of the Malay Peninsula. 5 Volumes. Government of the Straits Settlements and Federated Malay States. L. Reeve & Co., London.

• Uhl, N.W. & Dransfield, J., 1987. Genera Palmarum. The L.H. Bailey Hortorium and the International Palm Society. Allen Press, Lawrence, Kansas, USA. 610 pp.

Authors

P.C.M. Jansen, J. Jukema, L.P.A. Oyen, T.G. van Lingen