Xanthophyllum obscurum (PROSEA)

Plant Resources of South-East Asia Introduction

List of species

Xanthophyllum obscurum A.W. Bennett

Family: Polygalaceae

• Xanthophyllum insigne A.W. Benn.,
• Xanthophyllum scortechinii King.

Vernacular names Malaysia: , lemak berok, mengkapas (Peninsular). Distribution Peninsular Thailand, Peninsular Malaysia, Singapore, Sumatra and Borneo.

• Indonesia: buah kapas (Malay)
• Malaysia: lima berok, lemak berok, mengkapas (Peninsular), buah kapas.

Indonesia (Sumatra, Kalimantan), Malaysia, Thailand (peninsular).

The pulp around the seeds is edible. The timber is hard but probably not durable.

• Tree, up to 47 m tall and 70 cm trunk diameter.
• Fruit a globose berry, up to 14 cm diameter, dull pinkish-brown with numerous small dark spots; pericarp up to 2 cm thick.
• Seeds 8-16 with thick soft fibrous testa.

In rain forests, rather common in Peninsular Malaysia.

• 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.

• Heyne, K., 1927. De nuttige planten van Nederlandsch Indië [The useful plants of the Dutch East Indies]. 2nd ed. 3 Volumes. Departement van Landbouw, Nijverheid en Handel in Nederlandsch Indië. 1953 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