Aceratium oppositifolium (PROSEA)

Plant Resources of South-East Asia Introduction

List of species

Aceratium oppositifolium DC.

Family: Elaeocarpaceae

Synonyms

• Elaeocarpus oppositifolius Miq.

Vernacular names

• Indonesia: belimbing hutan, kariala (Ambon).

Distribution

Indonesia, wild in the Moluccas, occasionally cultivated in Java.

Uses

Fruits are eaten raw, or cooked as a vegetable; they also serve to make a sour relish.

Observations

• Shrub or tree, 6-10 m tall.
• Flowers in pendulous racemes, pale yellow.
• Fruit an oblongoid drupe, 2-5 cm × 2-3.5 cm, 3-5-angular, red.

In river valleys, usually isolated.

Selected sources

• Backer, C.A. & Bakhuizen van den Brink, R.C., 1963 1968. Flora of Java. 3 Volumes. Noordhoff, Groningen, the Netherlands.
• Heyne, K., 1927. De nuttige planten van Nederlandsch Indië [The useful plants of the Dutch East Indies]. 2nd ed. 3 Volumes. Departement van Landbouw, Nijverheid en Handel in Nederlandsch Indië. 1953 pp.
• Mansfeld, R. & Schultze Motel, J., 1986. Verzeichnis landwirtschaftlicher und gärtnerischer Kuturpflanzen. 2nd ed. 4 Volumes. Springer Verlag, Berlin. 1998 pp.

Authors

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