Native wild edible : Semecarpus cuneiformis

Specimen : Wild trees

Habitat : Dry grasslands, open slopes, moist and dry thickets

Local name : Ligas, Kamiling

Botanical name : Semecarpus cuneiformis

Family : Anacardiaceae

Specimen height : 6-10 meters

Trunk : Bole straight or bent; Bark smooth with shallow fissures, grey, matted with lichens

Leaves : Linear to spathulate, apex acutely blunt, base tapering, dark to bluish green

Fruit : Drupe (similar to cashew); Perceived fruit is a swollen receptacle (green to shiny, translucent yellow, orange or red); Perceived seed is the true fruit (crescent to heart-shaped, green to shiny black); Clustered, numerous, small

Fuiting season : March to April

Traits : Dioecious; Drought tolerant; Evergreen; Fast growing; Small tree to medium-sized tree; Tolerant of infertile
soil; Tolerant of occasional water-logging; Wind hardy

Recommendations : Erosion control; Living fence; Nurse tree; Riparian management; Pioneer species for reforestation purpose; Wildcrafting; Windbreak

Used for : Swollen fruit receptacle is edible; Pole; Firewood and charcoal

Native range : Indonesia, Taiwan and the Philippines

National conservation status : Not threatened in the Philippines

Threats : Clearing of woodlands for agricultural, commercial or residential use

Further readings :

ASEAN Tropical Plant Database - Semecarpus cuneiformis Blanco http://211.114.21.20/tropicalplant/html/search01_view.jsp?rno=172&fno=&page=2&all=1

Contact-Poisonous Plants of the World http://mic-ro.com/plants/

Revised Lexicon of Philippine trees (J. Rojo)

 

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