Scientific Name : Dillenia indica L.
Common Name : Elephant Apple
Chinese Name : 五椏果, 第倫桃
Family : DILLENIACEAE
Local distribution status : Exotic species
| Origins | South-Central and Southeast China; India, Indochina, Peninsular Malaysia, Sumatra, Java, Borneo and Singapore. |
|---|---|
| Meanings of names | The specific epithet indica indicates its origin from India. By reason of its similar fruit shape to elephant’s toes, it is also named as ‘Elephant Apple’. |
| Vitality | The tree prefers full sunlight, moist and well-drained soils. |
| Application |
The wood is stiff and demanded for making ships, boxes and pallets. In addition, the fruits are esculent and taste like unripe apples. Other than eating it fresh, the fruits can also be chopped into pieces to embellish salads or processed into curries and jam. The fruits are wholesome and can support daily nutrients to avoid hair loss. The leaves, bark and fruit are mixed. The mixture can be used to treat cancer and diarrhea. The tree is valued as an excellent ornamental tree due to its handsome tree form, dense foliage and majestic blossoms. Planting as a shading tree, it is competent to provide an unsurpassed shading effect. Although the fruits are appealing with a gigantic size, they are exceptionally weighty and could compromise the safety of visitors if they are not removed properly before ripening. |
| Growing habit | Evergreen tree. |
|---|---|
| Height | To 30 m. |
| Stem | Bark reddish brown, peeling off in flakes. Young branchlets brown pubescent, glabrescent, with obvious leaf scars. |
| Leaves | Simple leaf alternate, clustered at the apex of branchlets. Blade leathery, large, oblong or obovate-oblong, apex mucronate, base broadly cuneate, leaf margin conspicuously serrate, coarsely serrate, lateral veins eminent abaxially. |
| Flower | Hermaphrodite. Flowers large, solitary. Sepals 5, approximately rounded, thickly fleshy. Petals 5, obovate, white, stamens arranged in 2 distinct groups, outer numerous, orange-yellow, stigma radical, white. |
| Fruit | Aggregate fruit, globose, indehiscent, persistent sepals enlarged and enclosed the entire fruit, turning yellowish green to yellowish brown at maturity. |
| Flowering period | Unknown |
| Fruiting period | Unknown |
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=5434
Scientific names from other databases :
― Flora of China : Dillenia indica Linnaeus.
― Plants of the World Online : Dillenia indica L.