Scientific Name : Averrhoa carambola L.
Common Name : Carambola, Star Fruit
Chinese Name : 楊桃, 五斂子, 洋挑
Family : OXALIDACEAE
Local distribution status : Exotic species
| Origins | Carambola is originated from Ceylon and the Malocca Islands of Indonesia. |
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| Meanings of name | The generic name Averrhoa refers to Averrhoes, the Latin name of Ibn Rushd (1126 - 1198), who was an illustrious Arabian philosopher and polymath, devoting part of his life on translating Aristotle’s work. The specific epithet carambola belongs to the Sanskrit word karmaranga, meaning food appetizer. Since the cross section of its fruit is akin to a star, hence also named as ‘Star Fruit’. In Chinese, carambola was first named as ‘洋挑’ which are the homophones of ‘楊桃’. ‘洋’ describes its first introduction into China across the ocean while ‘挑’ depicts its fruits hanging down on the stem. |
| Ecology | Carambola is found in bushes, roadsides and gardens. |
| Vitality | Carambola is generally shade-hardy but prefers moist soils. |
| Application | Carambola is widely cultivated for its sweet and juicy fruits in tropic and subtropic regions such as Malaysia and China. Other than eating it fresh, the fruit is aways added for embellishing salads and other desserts in view of its particular star shape. The fruits are nutritious and medicinally effective for expelling heat, inducing urination and detoxifying. Remarkably, excessive ingestion of Carambola can trigger nausea, insomnia, hiccups or death, and thus should be avoided. |
| Growing habit | Evergreen tree. |
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| Height | To 8 m. |
| Stem | Bark dark brown, smooth, sometimes rimous. |
| Leaves | Imparipinnately compound alternate, leaflets 5-11 pairs alternate to subopposite. Leaflet blade glabrous, ovate to elliptic, base subrounded, oblique, apex shortly acuminate. Leaf surface glabrous, petiole and leaf rachis pilose.Terminal leaflets always the largest. |
| Flower | Panicles on trunk and branches, pink. Flowers small, with 5 pink petals. |
| Fruit | Berries, yellow to yellow brown, always deeply 5-ribbed, stellate in cross section. |
| Flowering period | May to August in Hong Kong. |
| Fruiting period | September to December in Hong Kong. |
Scientific name above is based on Hong Kong Herbarium website :
https://herbarium.gov.hk/en/hk-plant-database/plant-detail/index.html?pType=species&oID=8282
Scientific names from other databases
― Flora of China : Averrhoa carambola Linnaeus
― Plants of the World Online : Averrhoa carambola L.