Mangifera quadrifida (PROSEA)

Plant Resources of South-East Asia Introduction

List of species

Mangifera quadrifida Jack

Protologue: Roxb., Fl. Indica ed. Carey & Wallich 2: 440 (1824).

Synonyms

• Mangifera spathulaefolia Blume (1850),
• Mangifera langong Miq. (1862),
• Mangifera rumphii Pierre (1897).

Vernacular names

• Indonesia: asam kumbang (Sumatra, Kalimantan), asem kipang, rawa-rawa (Kalimantan)
• Malaysia: rawa (general), rancha-rancha (Sabah)
• Thailand: mamuang-khan.

Distribution

Thailand, Peninsular Malaysia, Sumatra, Java (rare) and Borneo, possibly also the Lesser Sunda Islands, Sulawesi and the Moluccas; locally cultivated around villages.

Uses

The wood is reputed to be used. The pleasantly acid fruit is eaten.

Observations

• A medium-sized tree up to 30 m tall, with often rather short and thick bole up to 150 cm in diameter, bark surface initially smooth, later regularly and superficially longitudinally fissured and becoming rough, greyish to dark brown.
• Leaves elliptical or oblong-spatulate to spatulate, (3-)10-20 cm × (2-)5-9(-10) cm.
• Inflorescence pseudo-terminal, the branches often forming a fascicle, glabrous.
• Flowers 4-merous, petals c. 4 mm long, creamish-white, with 3 stout, dark yellow ridges ending in a gland, disk large, cushion-like, 4-lobed, one stamen fertile, staminodes very small or lacking, filaments free.
• Fruit globose to ellipsoid-globose, up to 8 cm long, black when fully ripe.

M. quadrifida occurs in lowland rain forest up to 700 m altitude.

Selected sources

104, 162, 328, 463, 465, 673, 705.

• See also Mangifera (PROSEA Fruits) for the Fruit use.