Dillenia philippinensis
Dillenia philippinensis
The Philippine dillenia or Philippine katmon, Philippines simpoh (Dillenia philippinensis, Rolfe1884) is an arboreal species belonging to the Dilleniaceae family.
Systematic –
From a systematic point of view it belongs to:
Eukaryota domain,
Kingdom Plantae,
Division Magnoliophyta,
Class Magnoliopsida,
Dilleniales Order,
Dilleniaceae family,
Genus Dillenia,
Species D. philippinensis.
The terms are synonymous:
– Dillenia bolsteri Merr.;
– Dillenia catmon Elmer;
– Dillenia cauliflora Merr.;
– Dillenia indicates Blanco;
– Dillenia speciosa Blanco.
Within this species the following varieties are recognised:
– Dillenia philippinensis var. philippinensis;
– Dillenia philippinensis var. pubifolia Merr..
Etymology –
The term Dillenia is in honor of the German botanist Johann Jacob Dillen (Latinized as Dillenius) (1687-1747).
The specific epithet philippinensis comes from the Latin “philippinensis”, that is, from the Philippines, in reference to the place of origin.
Geographic Distribution and Habitat –
Dillenia philippinensis is a plant endemic to the Philippines and present in South-East Asia.
Its habitat is that of primary forests, even in the more open secondary formations, where it grows at low and medium altitudes; it is rarely present above 1,000 meters above sea level.
Description –
Dillenia philippinensis is an evergreen tree growing to 6-15m tall, branching from a fairly low point on the trunk.
The trunk is erect, has a diameter at the base of 60 cm, has a smooth or slightly fissured bark, reddish brown in colour.
The leaves are simple, alternate, leathery, elliptical or oblong-ovate in shape with pointed apex, toothed margins and prominent parallel lateral veins, 10-25 cm long and 6-12 cm wide, of an intense green colour; the petiole, 3-5 cm long, has semi-elliptical deciduous stipules, up to about 1 cm wide, initially green in colour, then brown before falling. Racemose inflorescences, on a 5-15 cm long peduncle in the axil of the upper leaves, carrying 1-3 flowers of 10-15 cm in diameter with five rounded sepals, three internal ones about 2 cm long and wide and two slightly smaller external ones, concave, thick and fleshy, green in color.
The flowers are made up of a corolla, formed by five white, ephemeral obovate petals, 4-6 cm long and 2-5 cm wide, surrounding two distinct rings of stamens, the external ones, more numerous, extended, about 1 cm long, are red in the upper half and yellow in the lower half, the internal ones, less numerous, 1.5-2 cm long, purple in colour, are placed against the red carpels.
The fruit is a globose, indehiscent syncarp, made up of several carpels grown together and welded together, 5-6 cm in diameter, entirely enclosed by persistent sepals.
Inside each carpel there are 1-5 blackish brown seeds, 0.5 cm long and 0.3 cm wide, with an aril at the base, immersed in a gelatinous pulp.
Cultivation –
Dillenia philippinensis is a small evergreen, densely shrubby tree that is harvested in the wild, mainly for its fruit which is used as food, medicine and hair shampoo.
The species is native to the Philippines where it lives in humid forests, at low and medium altitudes, often along the banks of rivers but can be used for urban greening.
The tree was planted experimentally in Cuba as a fruit tree; it is a plant that is rarely cultivated outside the area of origin, but of great ornamental and landscape value both for its foliage and for its large flowers, cultivable exclusively in tropical and subtropical climate zones in full sun or light shade on soils maintained almost constantly humid.
It can be used in parks and gardens as an isolated specimen or in a group or as street trees; where the climate does not allow continuous permanence outdoors, it can be grown in large containers for the decoration of greenhouses and winter gardens with minimum winter temperatures above 15 °C; watering must be regular and abundant in summer, reduced in winter, allowing the substratum to partially dry out, and fertilization, during the vegetative period, carried out with products balanced with microelements.
Reproduction generally occurs by seed in an organic substrate with the addition of 30% sand or perlite, kept humid, at a temperature of 24-26 °C.
Customs and Traditions –
Dillenia philippinensis is a plant known by various common names; among these are: Philippine dillenia, Philippine katmon, Philippines simpoh (English); kalambug, kalambok, kambug, katmon, palali (Philippines).
The fleshy sepals, with a sour flavour, are eaten raw or cooked, or used to prepare sauces and jams, the juice is used to prepare a cough syrup while the shoots and flowers are used to flavor fish soups. Wood is widely used in construction for floors, ceilings and window frames, for furniture and commonly used objects, finally a red dye is obtained from the bark.
Its fruit is known as elephant apple.
This plant is depicted on the reverse of the Philippine twenty-five centavo coin from 2018 as part of the New Generation Currency Coin Series.
The fruit contains soft, fleshy, green, edible pulp with a flavor similar to that of unripe green apple. It is used to prepare sauces, jams and flavorings for fish. The fruit’s acid is mixed with sugar to create a traditional cough cure. It is also used to clean hair.
The tree is also harvested for its timber as it is suitable for furniture and cabinet making. The wood has a beautiful silver grain similar to quartered oak. A red dye can also be obtained from the bark.
The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) has included the species in the red list of species threatened with extinction as “vulnerable”.
Preparation Method –
Dillenia philippinensis is a plant used for food, medicine and also for its wood.
The fleshy sepals are eaten and are recommended for preparing preserves.
The fruits are also eaten, both raw and cooked; they have a soft, fleshy, green pulp that tastes a bit like that of an apple; is a little acidic, making a refreshing snack when traveling, but they are more commonly cooked.
These make an excellent sauce or jam.
In the medicinal field, a cough syrup is obtained from the fleshy sepals of the fruit.
Please also remember that a red dye is obtained from the bark.
Furthermore, the pulp of the fruit is used as a hair shampoo.
Guido Bissanti
Sources
– Acta Plantarum – Flora of the Italian Regions.
– Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
– GBIF, the Global Biodiversity Information Facility.
– Useful Tropical Plants Database.
– Conti F., Abbate G., Alessandrini A., Blasi C. (ed.), 2005. An annotated checklist of the Italian vascular flora, Palombi Editore.
– Pignatti S., 1982. Flora d’Italia, Edagricole, Bologna.
– Treben M., 2000. Health from the Lord’s Pharmacy, Advice and experiences with medicinal herbs, Ennsthaler Editore.
Photo source:
– https://inaturalist-open-data.s3.amazonaws.com/photos/309902269/original.jpeg
Attention: Pharmaceutical applications and food uses are indicated for informational purposes only, they do not represent in any way a medical prescription; we therefore decline any responsibility for their use for healing, aesthetic or food purposes.