Canarium species grow up to large evergreen trees of 40–50 m (130–160 ft) tall, and have alternately arranged, pinnate leaves.[3] They are dioecious, with male and female flowers growing on separate trees.[4]
Common names
The trees and their edible nuts have a large number of common names in their range. These include Pacific almond, canarium nut, pili nut, Java almond, Kenari nut, galip nut, nangai, and ngali.[5]
Several species have edible nuts, known as galip nut or nangae (C. indicum), pili nut (C. ovatum), or simply canarium nut (C. harveyi and C. indicum). C. indicum are among the most important nut-bearing trees in eastern Indonesia and the Southwest Pacific. C. ovatum is cultivated as a food crop only in the Philippines.[6]
C. odontophyllum, known commonly as dabai or kembayau, is a species with a nutritious fruit with a creamy taste. It is hard when raw and may be pickled or softened with hot water when prepared. Many animals feed on the fruit in the wild, such as the red-bellied lemur (Eulemur rubriventer) and the ruffed lemurs (Varecia) of Madagascar's eastern tropical forests. Canarium fruit is also an important part of the diet of the aye-aye (Daubentonia madagascarensis).[7]
Canarium album produces a fruit consumed in Vietnam, Thailand (where it is known as nam liap (Thai: หนำเลี้ยบ), samo chin (Thai: สมอจีน) or kana (Thai: กาน้า)) and in China (Chinese: 橄欖) with an appearance of a big olive.
Canarium luzonicum, commonly known as elemi, is a tree native to the Philippines. An oleoresin, which contains Elemicin, is harvested from it.
^ a b cLeenhouts, P. W.; Kalkman, C.; Lam, H. J. (March 1956). "Canarium (Burseraceae)" (Digitised, online). Flora Malesiana. Series I, Spermatophyta : Flowering Plants. Vol. 5. Leiden, The Netherlands: Rijksherbarium / Hortus Botanicus, Leiden University. pp. 249–296. Retrieved 13 Nov 2013.
^Federman, Sarah; Donoghue, Michael J.; Daly, Douglas C.; Eaton, Deren A. R. (2018). "Reconciling species diversity in a tropical plant clade (Canarium, Burseraceae)". PLOS ONE. 13 (6): e0198882. Bibcode:2018PLoSO..1398882F. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0198882. PMC 6003679. PMID 29906281.
^"Canarian indicum" http://agroforestry.net/tti/Canarium-canariumnut.pdf, accessed 12 Dec 2013; Sheppard, Peter J. "Lapita Colonization across the Near/Remote Oceania Boundary" Current Anthropology Vol. 52, No. 6 (Dec 2011), p. 802
^Pili Nut, Canarium ovatum, New Crop Fact Sheet. Purdue University Center for New Crops and Plant Products.
^Timothy M. Sefczek; Zach J. Farris; Patricia C. Wright (2012). "Aye-Aye (Daubentonia madagascariensis) Feeding Strategies at Ranomafana National Park, Madagascar: An Indirect Sampling Method". Folia Primatologica; International Journal of Primatology. - 83 (1): 1–10. doi:10.1159/000338103. PMID 22627178. S2CID 207622496.
^Crome, F. H. J. (1975). "The ecology of fruit pigeons in tropical northern Queensland". Wildlife Research. 2 (2): 155–185. doi:10.1071/wr9750155.
^Frith, H. J.; Crome, F. H. J.; Wolfe, T. O. (1976). "Food of fruit-pigeons in New Guinea". Emu. 76 (2): 49–58. Bibcode:1976EmuAO..76...49F. doi:10.1071/mu9760049. Retrieved 16 Nov 2013.