Canarium

The snail genus Canarium : see Canarium (gastropod).

Canarium is a genus of about 75 species of tropical and subtropical trees in the family Burseraceae, native to tropical Africa, southern Asia, and Australia, from southern Nigeria east to Madagascar, Mauritius, India, southern China, Indonesia and the Philippines. They are large evergreen trees up to 40–50 m tall, with alternate, pinnate leaves.

Uses and ecology

Several species have edible nuts, known as galip nut or nangae (C. indicum), pili nut (C. ovatum), or simply canarium nut (C. harveyi and C. indicum). C. indicum are among the most important nut-bearing trees in eastern Indonesia and the Southwest Pacific. C. ovatum is cultivated extensively only in the Philippines.

Dabai (C. odontophyllum) is a species of Canarium which is a delicious and nutritious fruit which tastes something like avocado. The skin and flesh are edible after soaking in warm water. The fruit contains all of protein, fat and carbohydrate, thereby making it an ideal food (most nuts are low in protein). It has been introduced from Borneo to Queensland in Australia. In addition to providing food for humans, this plant's fruit are eaten by certain animals, such as the Red-bellied Lemur (Eulemur rubriventer) and the ruffed lemurs (Varecia) of Madagascar's eastern rainforests. Superb Fruit-dove (Ptilinopus superbus) are known to be fond of Brown Cudgeree (C. australianum) fruit, which they swallow whole. Canarium album is also a delicious fruit consumed in Vietnam, Thailand (where it is known as nam liap (Thai: หนำเลี๊ยบ), samo chin (Thai: สมอจีน) or kana (Thai: กาน้า))^[1] and in China (Chinese Olive) with an appearance of a big olive.

Canarium luzonicum, commonly known as elemi, is a tree native to the Philippines. An oleoresin, which contains Elemicin, is harvested from it.

References