Baccaurea macrocarpa (PROSEA)

Plant Resources of South-East Asia Introduction

List of species

Baccaurea macrocarpa (Miq.) Muell. Arg.

Family: Euphorbiaceae

Synonyms

• Baccaurea griffithii Hook.f.
• Baccaurea borneensis Muell. Arg.

Vernacular names

• Greater tampoi (En)
• Indonesia: kapul (Indonesian, Kalimantan), tampoi bulan (Indonesian, Bangka), tuak tampoi (Kalimantan), tampoi saya
• Malaysia: tampoi merah (Sabah), tampoi, jintek merah, taban.

Distribution

Peninsular Malaysia, Singapore, Borneo, Sumatra.

Uses

The fruits are edible and sweet. The timber is strong and durable, used in construction.

Observations

• Tree, 10-15 m tall.
• Leaves not heart-shaped.
• Inflorescences up to 20 cm long, clustered on branches and trunk, female ones shortest.
• Fruit an oblongoid to globose capsule, up to 7 cm diameter, faintly 3-grooved, woody and thick-walled, brown to grey; pulp cream-white; singly or in bunches of 2-4 on long strings.

In lowland forest, rather common. Much resembling B. motleyana (Muell. Arg.) Muell. Arg., but with superior fruits, worth cultivation.

Selected sources

• Airy Shaw, H.K., 1981. The Euphorbiaceae of Sumatra. Kew Bulletin 36: 239-374.

• 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.

• Corner, E.J.H., 1965. Check-list of Ficus in Asia and Australasia with keys to identification. The Gardens' Bulletin Singapore 21: 1-186.

• 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.

Authors

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