Spondias novoguineensis (PROSEA)

Plant Resources of South-East Asia Introduction

List of species

Spondias novoguineensis Kosterm.

Family: Anacardiaceae

Synonyms

• Spondias pinnata auct., non (Koenig ex L.f.) Kurz.

Vernacular names

• Indonesia: ngaulo (Ternate), uritchu (Ambon), kanuris (Biak)

• Papua New Guinea: bali (New Britain)

Distribution

Indonesia (Moluccas: Ambon, Aru Islands, Ternate, Seram), New Guinea and the Solomon Islands.

Uses

The acid fruit can be used as a flavouring for food.

Observations

• Tree, up to 40 m tall; bole branchless for up to 25 m, diameter up to 120 cm, with very large buttresses, up to 1.5 m tall and spreading 2 m out.
• Leaves aggregate at the end of twigs, up to 40 cm long; leaflets subopposite, 9-10 pairs, pari- or imparipinnate, oblong, 4-15 cm × 1.5-2.5 cm, sharply acuminate, obscurely reticulate with 20-30 parallel pairs of veins that join up into a marginal vein.
• Inflorescence a panicle, up to 20 cm long.
• Flowers 5-merous; petals white to cream; stamens 10; styles 4-5.
• Fruit an ellipsoidal drupe, 3 cm × 4 cm, dirty orange, pulp greenish-white; endocarp bony, consisting of a smooth capsule of interwoven, longitudinal fibres.

S. novoguineensis occurs in lowland tropical rain forest and flowers when leafless. It has been confused with S. pinnata (Koenig ex L.f.) Kurz, S. acida Blume and S. malayana Kosterm.

Selected sources

• Kostermans, A.J.G.H., 1991. Kedondong, ambarella, amra. The Spondiadeae (Anacardiaceae) in Asia and the Pacific area. Foundation Useful Plants of Asia. Vol. 1. Herbarium Bogoriense, Bogor, Indonesia. 100 pp.

Authors

P.C.M. Jansen