Habitat : Dry grasslands, open slopes, moist and dry thickets
Local name : Ligas, Kamiling
Botanical name : Semecarpus cuneiformis
Family : Anacardiaceae
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)
(263)