My watch list
my.bionity.com  
Login  

Limonia (plant)



Limonia acidissima

Wood-apple fruit purchased from market in Pune, India
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Division: Magnoliophyta
Class: Magnoliopsida
Order: Sapindales
Family: Rutaceae
Genus: Limonia
L.
Species: L. acidissima
Binomial name
Limonia acidissima
L.

Limonia acidissima (syn. Feronia elephantum, Feronia limonia, Schinus limonia) is the only species within the monotypic genus Limonia, native to India, Pakistan, and southeast Asia east to Java. Vernacular names include wood-apple, elephant-apple, monkey fruit, and curd fruit in English and a variety of names in the languages of its native area.

It is a small tree growing to 9 m tall, with rough, spiny bark. The leaves are pinnate, with 5-7 leaflets, each leaflet 25-35 mm long and 10-20 mm broad, with a citrus-scent when crushed. The fruit is a berry 5-9 cm diameter, and may be sweet or sour. It has a very hard rind which can be difficult to crack open, and contains sticky brown pulp and small white seeds.

A number of other species formerly included in the genus are now treated in the related genera Atalantia, Citropsis, Citrus, Glycosmis, Luvunga, Murraya, Microcitrus, Micromelum, Naringi, Pamburus, Pleiospermium, Severinia, Skimmia, Swinglea, and Triphasia [1].

Cultivation and uses

The fruit is eaten plain, mixed into a variety of beverages and desserts, or preserved as jam. The rind of the fruit is so thick and hard it can be carved and used as a utensil such as a bowl or ashtray. The bark also produces an edible gum. The tree has hard wood which can be used for woodworking. This species has numerous described medicinal uses as well.

See also

References

  • Germplasm Resources Information Network: Limonia
  • Germplasm Resources Information Network: Limonia acidissima
  • Flora of Pakistan: genus page, species page
  • The Wood Apple
  • Pandanus Database
 
This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Limonia_(plant)". A list of authors is available in Wikipedia.
Your browser is not current. Microsoft Internet Explorer 6.0 does not support some functions on Chemie.DE