1555

2: Edible fruits and nuts

Aceratium oppositifolium DC.

ELAEOCARPACEAE

Elaeocarpus oppositifolius Miq.

Indonesia: belimbing hutan, kariala (Ambon).

Indonesia, wild in the Moluccas, occasionally cultivated in Java.

Fruits are eaten raw, or cooked as a vegetable; they also serve to make a sour relish.

Shrub or tree, 6—10 m tall. Flowers in pendulous racemes, pale yellow. Fruit an oblongoid drupe, 2—5 cm x 2—3.5 cm, 3—5-angular, red. In river valleys, usually isolated.

[3]Backer, C.A. & Bakhuizen van den Brink, R.C., 1963–1968. Flora of Java. 3 Volumes. Noordhoff, Groningen, the Netherlands.
[26]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.
[51]Mansfeld, R. & Schultze-Motel, J., 1986. Verzeichnis landwirtschaftlicher und gärtnerischer Kuturpflanzen. 2nd ed. 4 Volumes. Springer Verlag, Berlin. 1998 pp.

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

Jansen, P.C.M., Jukema, J., Oyen, L.P.A. & van Lingen, T.G., 1991. Aceratium oppositifolium DC.. In: Verheij, E.W.M. and Coronel, R.E. (Editors): Plant Resources of South-East Asia No 2: Edible fruits and nuts. PROSEA Foundation, Bogor, Indonesia. Database record: prota4u.org/prosea