Renanthera moluccana (PROSEA)

Plant Resources of South-East Asia Introduction

List of species

Renanthera moluccana Blume

Family: Orchidaceae

Vernacular names

• Indonesia: anggrek merah, bunga karang (Moluccas)

Distribution

Indonesia (Ambon, Buru), Papua New Guinea.

Uses

The young leaves are sour in taste, with a slight suggestion of capers (Capparis spp.) and can be used as a flavouring, alone or together with other food acids. The rather fibrous leaves are conserved in salt or acid.

Observations

• Epiphytic herb with aerial roots perforating the leaf sheath; stem woody, 9-10 mm in diameter, internodes 2-4 cm long.
• Leaves with tubular sheath, 2-2.5 cm long, sometimes overlapping; blade elliptical, 6.5-13 cm × 2.5-4 cm, herbaceous, emarginate.
• Inflorescence an axillary panicle, up to 0.5 m long, with up to 5 branches and numerous flowers that open more or less simultaneously.
• Flowers coral red, paler inside; lip 3-lobed; pollinia 4.
• Fruit an angular ellipsoidal capsule, about 4 cm long and 5 mm in diameter.

R. moluccana often occurs along the edges of fresh lagoons, from sea-level up to 800 m altitude.

Selected sources

• Burkill, I.H., 1935. A dictionary of the economic products of the Malay Peninsula. 2 volumes. Crown Agents for the Colonies, London, United Kingdom. 2402 pp. (slightly revised reprint, 1966. 2 volumes. Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. 2444 pp.).

• Heyne, K., 1927. De nuttige planten van Nederlandsch Indië [The useful plants of the Dutch East Indies]. 2nd edition, 3 volumes. Departement van Landbouw, Nijverheid en Handel in Nederlandsch Indië. 1953 pp. (3rd edition, 1950. van Hoeve, 's‑Gravenhage/Bandung, the Netherlands/Indonesia. 1660 pp.).

• Mahyar, U.W., 1988. Observations on some species of the orchid genus Renanthera Loureiro. Reinwardtia 10(4): 399-418.

Authors

P.C.M. Jansen