Rheedia edulis (PROSEA)

Plant Resources of South-East Asia Introduction

List of species

Rheedia edulis Planchon & Triana

Family: Guttiferae

Vernacular names

• Mameyito (En)
• Philippines: berba (Tagalog).

Distribution

Wild and cultivated in Central America. Occasionally cultivated in the Philippines and United States (California).

Uses

The fruits are edible, sour, but with a good flavour. The wood is a good timber, nearly immune to insects. The bark is rich in tannin. The tree is also often planted as a shade tree or an ornamental.

Observations

• Erect tree, up to 30 m tall, containing yellow latex.
• Leaves opposite, elliptic-oblong, 8-15 cm × 2-5 cm, leathery.
• Flowers clustered in leaf axils, greenish-white, male or bisexual.
• Fruit an ovoid berry, up to 3 cm long, orange to yellow, with easy-to-peel skin.
• Seeds 1-2, ca. 1.5 cm long.

In humid forests.

Selected sources

• Brown, W.H., 1951-1957. Useful plants of the Philippines. Reprint of the 1941-1943 ed. 3 Volumes. Department of Agriculture and Natural Resources. Technical Bulletin 10. Bureau of Printing, Manila, the Philippines.

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

Authors

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