Sep 032012
 

What can be an addition to our regular boring vegetables.

Specimen : Wild trees

Habitats : Creek bank thickets, open slopes, grasslands, roadsides

Local name : Anonang

Trade names : Glue berry, Fragrant manjack

Botanical name : Cordia dichotoma

Family : Boraginaceae

Specimen height : 5-8 meters

Fruiting season : May to July

Traits : Deciduous; Drought tolerant; Fast-growing; Low altitude species; Small tree

Used for : Fruits are eaten raw or cooked as vegetable or even pickled for eating; Leaves, flowers and seeds are also edible; Leaves as animal fodder; Seeds and bark are medicinal; Ripe fruits are used as paste; Timber for furniture; Wood for carving; Fuelwood and charcoal

Recommendations : Backyards; Farms; Fruit collector’s; Living fence; Nurse tree; Pioneer tree for reforestation purpose; Plantations; Public spaces; Riparian management; Roadside tree; Urban greening; Vegetable tree; Wildcrafting; Windbreak

Native range : Pakistan, Nepal, India, Sri Lanka, Southeast Asia (including the Philippines), China, Ryuku Islands (Japan), Taiwan, New Guinea, Australia and New Caledonia

National conservation status : Not threatened in the Philippines

Threats : Conversion of woodlands to agricultural, commercial or residential plots; Cutting of wild trees for fuelwood and charcoal production

Further readings :

World Agroforestry Centre (AgroforestryTree Database) - Cordia dichotoma http://www.worldagroforestrycentre.org/sea/products/afdbases/af/asp/SpeciesInfo.asp?SpID=1777

Philippine Woods : Principal Uses, Distribution & Equivalent Woods in Asia Pacific (A. Ella, A. Tongacan, R. Escobin & F. Pitargue)

Revised Lexicon of Philippine Trees (J. Rojo)

Flavor & Fortune - Tree seeds (Jacqueline M. Newman) http://www.flavorandfortune.com/dataaccess/article.php?ID=263

Tropical & Subtropical Trees (M. Barwick) (563)