Flacourtia rukam is a species of flowering plant in the family Salicaceae. It is native to Island Southeast Asia and Melanesia, but has spread into Mainland Southeast Asia, India, and Polynesia.[1][2] It is also cultivated for its edible fruit. Common names include rukam, governor's plum, Indian plum, and Indian prune.[3][4]
| Flacourtia rukam | |
|---|---|
| |
Scientific classification 
| |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| Clade: | Tracheophytes |
| Clade: | Angiosperms |
| Clade: | Eudicots |
| Clade: | Rosids |
| Order: | Malpighiales |
| Family: | Salicaceae |
| Genus: | Flacourtia |
| Species: | F. rukam
|
| Binomial name | |
| Flacourtia rukam | |
| Synonyms | |
|
Flacourtia euphlebia | |
This species is a tree growing 5 to 15 meters tall. The trunk is lined with thorns up to 10 centimeters long; some cultivated varieties lack thorns. New leaves are red to brown in color. Mature leaves are somewhat oval in shape with toothed edges and up to 16 centimeters long by 7 wide. Racemes of yellow-green male and female flowers occur in the leaf axils. The rounded fruit is about 2 centimeters long and is green, red, or purple in color.[2]
References
edit- ^ Blench, Roger (2008). "A History of Fruits in the Southeast Asian Mainland". In Osada, Toshiki; Uesugi, Akinori (eds.). Occasional Paper 4: Linguistics, Archaeology and the Human Past. Indus Project, Research Institute for Humanity and Nature. pp. 115–137.
- ^ a b Flacourtia rukam. Flora of China.
- ^ Lim, T. K. (2013). Flacourtia rukam. Edible Medicinal and Non-Medicinal Plants Volume 5. Springer. pp 776-79.
- ^ Flacourtia rukam. Pacific Island Ecosystems at Risk (PIER).
External links
edit
Media related to Flacourtia rukam at Wikimedia Commons- "Flacourtia rukam". Germplasm Resources Information Network. Agricultural Research Service, United States Department of Agriculture.
