Baccaurea reticulata (PROSEA)

Plant Resources of South-East Asia Introduction

List of species

Baccaurea reticulata Hook.f.

Family: Euphorbiaceae

Vernacular names

• Lesser tampoi (En)
• Indonesia, Malaysia: tampoi bunga, taban merkeh.

Distribution

Peninsular Malaysia, Singapore, Sumatra and Borneo (Brunei, Sarawak).

Uses

The fruits are edible and with pleasant sweet taste. The timber is dull red, hard and does not split during drying.

Observations

• Tree, 10-15 m tall with orange-brown bark.
• Leaves elliptic-oblong, up to 20 cm × 9 cm.
• Fruit a brightly coloured grey to brown-yellow capsule with yellow translucent pulp.

Common in lowland forests. Closely related to B. bracteata Muell. Arg.

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.

• 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.

Authors

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