Flacourtia inermis (PROSEA)

Plant Resources of South-East Asia Introduction

List of species

Flacourtia inermis Roxb.

Family: Flacourtiaceae

• Governor plum (En)
• Indonesia: lobi-lobi, tomi-tomi
• Malaysia: rukam masam, lovi-lovi
• Thailand: takhop-thai (central).

Only known in a cultivated or semi-cultivated state, widespread from India through Malesia to New Britain.

The fruits are eaten raw but are often acid or astringent; they are excellent for making jams, syrup and preserves.

• Unarmed tree, up to 15 m tall, trunk up to 35 cm diameter.
• Leaves ovate-oblong to ovate-elliptic, 8-20 cm × 4-12 cm.
• Fruit a globose berry, 2-2.5 cm in diameter, pink to red.

Cultivated as a fruit tree up to 1300 m altitude, also on sandy soils. Some varieties have been distinguished, based on differences in leaves. Propagation is by seed or air layering or budding; yield varies from 40-100 kg fruit per tree per year. In Java the tree flowers in January-February and fruit ripens after 4-5 months.

• Morton, J.F., 1987. Fruits of warm climates. Creative Resource Systems Inc., Winterville, N.C., USA. 503 pp.

• van Steenis, C.G.G.J. et al. (Editors), 1950-. Flora Malesiana. Series 1. Vol. 1, 4-10. Centre for Research and Development in Biology, Bogor, Indonesia, and Rijksherbarium, Leiden, the Netherlands. Kluwer Academic Publishers, Dordrecht, Boston, London.

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