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*nombreux usages médicinaux: feuilles, fruits immatures, écorce, racine

|texte= Today cultivated in tropics, especially in Thailand, Cambodia, Indonesia, Kenya, Tanzania and India. It is mainly grown as fibre crop, also as fetish or medicinal plant. The tree is also used as hedge, shade tree or for supporting ''Piper nigrum''. The hairs of the inner fruit wall give a useful padding or insulating material. The light wood is used for the production of boats, toys, paper, boxes, furniture and wood-wool. The seeds contain up to 25% of a somewhat toxic oil which is used today as fuel oil or for production of soap. Immature fruits, roots, leaves and bark are components of folk medicine. Young leaves, immature fruits and petals are eaten as vegetable. A very variable plant. Some authors separate several species, for example ''C. caribaea'' (DC.) A. Chev., ''C. guinensis'' (Thonn.) A. Chev., ''C. thonningii'' A. Chev. The wild area of this species is unknown, today distributed in all tropical areas either as result of its origin before the drift of the continents or of natural migration by means of sea currents to Africa in pre-Columbian times.