''Pithecellobium dulce'', commonly known as Manila tamarind, Madras thorn, monkeypod tree or camachile, is a species of
flowering plant
Flowering plants are plants that bear flowers and fruits, and form the clade Angiospermae (), commonly called angiosperms. The term "angiosperm" is derived from the Greek words ('container, vessel') and ('seed'), and refers to those plants t ...
in the
pea
The pea is most commonly the small spherical seed or the seed-pod of the flowering plant species ''Pisum sativum''. Each pod contains several peas, which can be green or yellow. Botanically, pea pods are fruit, since they contain seeds and d ...
family,
, that is native to the Pacific Coast and adjacent highlands of
Mexico
Mexico (Spanish language, Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a List of sovereign states, country in the southern portion of North America. It is borders of Mexico, bordered to the north by the United States; to the so ...
,
Central America
Central America ( es, América Central or ) is a subregion of the Americas. Its boundaries are defined as bordering the United States to the north, Colombia to the south, the Caribbean Sea to the east, and the Pacific Ocean to the west. ...
, and northern
South America
South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere at the northern tip of the continent. It can also be described as the sou ...
.
It is also sometimes known as monkeypod, but that name is also used for several other plants, including ''
Samanea saman''. It is an
introduced species
An introduced species, alien species, exotic species, adventive species, immigrant species, foreign species, non-indigenous species, or non-native species is a species living outside its native distributional range, but which has arrived there ...
and extensively naturalized in the
Caribbean
The Caribbean (, ) ( es, El Caribe; french: la Caraïbe; ht, Karayib; nl, De Caraïben) is a region of the Americas that consists of the Caribbean Sea, its islands (some surrounded by the Caribbean Sea and some bordering both the Caribbean ...
and
Florida
Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and ...
, as well as the
Philippines
The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no),
* bik, Republika kan Filipinas
* ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas
* cbk, República de Filipinas
* hil, Republ ...
and
Guam
Guam (; ch, Guåhan ) is an organized, unincorporated territory of the United States in the Micronesia subregion of the western Pacific Ocean. It is the westernmost point and territory of the United States (reckoned from the geographic cent ...
via the
Manila galleons
fil, Galyon ng Maynila
, english_name = Manila Galleon
, duration = From 1565 to 1815 (250 years)
, venue = Between Manila and Acapulco
, location = New Spain (Spanish Empire) ...
. It has also been introduced to
Thailand
Thailand ( ), historically known as Siam () and officially the Kingdom of Thailand, is a country in Southeast Asia, located at the centre of the Indochinese Peninsula, spanning , with a population of almost 70 million. The country is b ...
and
South Asia
South Asia is the southern subregion of Asia, which is defined in both geographical and ethno-cultural terms. The region consists of the countries of Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka.;;;;; ...
,
It is considered an
invasive species
An invasive species otherwise known as an alien is an introduced organism that becomes overpopulated and harms its new environment. Although most introduced species are neutral or beneficial with respect to other species, invasive species adv ...
in
Hawaii
Hawaii ( ; haw, Hawaii or ) is a state in the Western United States, located in the Pacific Ocean about from the U.S. mainland. It is the only U.S. state outside North America, the only state that is an archipelago, and the only stat ...
.
Description
''Pithecellobium dulce'' is a
tree
In botany, a tree is a perennial plant with an elongated stem, or trunk, usually supporting branches and leaves. In some usages, the definition of a tree may be narrower, including only woody plants with secondary growth, plants that are ...
that reaches a height of about . Its trunk is spiny and up to nine meters in girth (9.4 feet thick DBH) and its leaves are
bipinnate
The following is a list of terms which are used to describe leaf morphology in the description and taxonomy of plants. Leaves may be simple (a single leaf blade or lamina) or compound (with several leaflets). The edge of the leaf may be regular ...
. Each pinna has a single pair of ovate-oblong
leaflets that are about long. The
flower
A flower, sometimes known as a bloom or blossom, is the reproductive structure found in flowering plants (plants of the division Angiospermae). The biological function of a flower is to facilitate reproduction, usually by providing a mechanis ...
s are greenish-white, fragrant, sessile and reach about in length, though appear shorter due to coiling. The flowers produce a
pod, which turns pink when ripe and opens to expose the seed arils; a pink or white, edible pulp. The pulp contains black shiny seeds that are circular and flat. Pollen is a polyad of many pollen grains stitched together.
The seed is
dispersed via birds that feed on the sweet pulp. The tree is
drought resistant and can survive in dry lands from sea level to an elevation of , making it suitable for cultivation as a street tree.
Vernacular names
The English names "Manila tamarind" and "Madras thorn" are both misleading since it is neither related to the
tamarind
Tamarind (''Tamarindus indica'') is a leguminous tree bearing edible fruit that is probably indigenous to tropical Africa. The genus ''Tamarindus'' is monotypic, meaning that it contains only this species. It belongs to the family Fabacea ...
nor native to
Manila
Manila ( , ; fil, Maynila, ), officially the City of Manila ( fil, Lungsod ng Maynila, ), is the capital of the Philippines, and its second-most populous city. It is highly urbanized and, as of 2019, was the world's most densely populated ...
(though it was introduced early to the Philippines) or
Madras
Chennai (, ), formerly known as Madras ( the official name until 1996), is the capital city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost Indian state. The largest city of the state in area and population, Chennai is located on the Coromandel Coast of th ...
. Other English names include blackbead, sweet Inga, and monkeypod.
Depending on the region of its occurrence, ''Pithecellobium dulce'' is known by different names. In its native
Mexico
Mexico (Spanish language, Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a List of sovereign states, country in the southern portion of North America. It is borders of Mexico, bordered to the north by the United States; to the so ...
, the tree is known as , , , , or , deriving from its
Nahuatl
Nahuatl (; ), Aztec, or Mexicano is a language or, by some definitions, a group of languages of the Uto-Aztecan language family. Varieties of Nahuatl are spoken by about Nahua peoples, most of whom live mainly in Central Mexico and have small ...
name . The Nahuatl derivations are also preserved in its names in the
Philippines
The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no),
* bik, Republika kan Filipinas
* ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas
* cbk, República de Filipinas
* hil, Republ ...
, where it was first introduced into Asia via the
Manila galleons
fil, Galyon ng Maynila
, english_name = Manila Galleon
, duration = From 1565 to 1815 (250 years)
, venue = Between Manila and Acapulco
, location = New Spain (Spanish Empire) ...
. It is known as in
Tagalog
Tagalog may refer to:
Language
* Tagalog language, a language spoken in the Philippines
** Old Tagalog, an archaic form of the language
** Batangas Tagalog, a dialect of the language
* Tagalog script, the writing system historically used for Taga ...
(from where the English name "camachile" is derived), in
Hiligaynon, and or in
Ilokano.
In the wider region of
Latin America
Latin America or
* french: Amérique Latine, link=no
* ht, Amerik Latin, link=no
* pt, América Latina, link=no, name=a, sometimes referred to as LatAm is a large cultural region in the Americas where Romance languages — languages derived ...
, it is also called , or (
Puerto Rico
Puerto Rico (; abbreviated PR; tnq, Boriken, ''Borinquen''), officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico ( es, link=yes, Estado Libre Asociado de Puerto Rico, lit=Free Associated State of Puerto Rico), is a Caribbean island and unincorporated ...
). In Colombia it is known as and . It is also known as in (
Hawaiian).
In South Asia and the rest of Southeast Asia, it is known by many names, most of which literally translate to "foreign tamarind". These include: in
Thai; in
Khmer; ''Kona Puliyangai'' in Kongu region and in other regions(
Tamil
Tamil may refer to:
* Tamils, an ethnic group native to India and some other parts of Asia
** Sri Lankan Tamils, Tamil people native to Sri Lanka also called ilankai tamils
**Tamil Malaysians, Tamil people native to Malaysia
* Tamil language, na ...
); in Telugu; or in
Kannada
Kannada (; ಕನ್ನಡ, ), originally romanised Canarese, is a Dravidian language spoken predominantly by the people of Karnataka in southwestern India, with minorities in all neighbouring states. It has around 47 million native s ...
; or in
Gujarati
Gujarati may refer to:
* something of, from, or related to Gujarat, a state of India
* Gujarati people, the major ethnic group of Gujarat
* Gujarati language, the Indo-Aryan language spoken by them
* Gujarati languages, the Western Indo-Aryan sub- ...
; or ''chinch bilai'' or ''cheese bilai'' in
Marathi; in
Hindi
Hindi (Devanāgarī: or , ), or more precisely Modern Standard Hindi (Devanagari: ), is an Indo-Aryan language spoken chiefly in the Hindi Belt region encompassing parts of northern, central, eastern, and western India. Hindi has been ...
; in
Odia
Odia, also spelled Oriya or Odiya, may refer to:
* Odia people in Odisha, India
* Odia language, an Indian language, belonging to the Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European language family
* Odia alphabet, a writing system used for the Odia languag ...
; in
Sindhi
Sindhi may refer to:
*something from, or related to Sindh, a province of Pakistan
* Sindhi people, an ethnic group from the Sindh region
* Sindhi language, the Indo-Aryan language spoken by them
People with the name
* Sarkash Sindhi (1940–2012 ...
; and in
Bengali
Bengali or Bengalee, or Bengalese may refer to:
*something of, from, or related to Bengal, a large region in South Asia
* Bengalis, an ethnic and linguistic group of the region
* Bengali language, the language they speak
** Bengali alphabet, the w ...
. In Pakistan, it is also known as "jungle jalebi", after the resemblance of its fruits to the
jalebi
''Jalebi'' (, , , Urdu: جلیبی, , , si, පැණි වළලු, ), is a popular sweet snack in south and west Asia, Africa, and Mauritius. It goes by many names, including ''jilapi'', ''zelepi'','' jilebi'', '' jilipi'', ''zulbia'', ...
.
Uses
As food
The seed pods contain a sweet and sour pulp which is eaten raw in Mexico, the Philippines, Pakistan, and India
as an accompaniment to various meat dishes and used as a base for drinks with sugar and water ('agua de guamúchil').
The seeds are said to be eaten (locally?) in the 'Revised handbook to the flora of Ceylon' (1980), edited by M.D. Dassanayake (this information is not in the original 'Flora of Ceylon' of 1894).
[
A number of studies since the 1980s have investigated the composition and possible uses of the seeds; it has been demonstrated that the seeds can be processed to extract a greenish oil, which when refined and analysed consists of potentially edible ]fatty acids
In chemistry, particularly in biochemistry, a fatty acid is a carboxylic acid with an aliphatic chain, which is either saturated and unsaturated compounds#Organic chemistry, saturated or unsaturated. Most naturally occurring fatty acids have an B ...
(the precise composition varies depending on the study, but all agree oleic acid
Oleic acid is a fatty acid that occurs naturally in various animal and vegetable fats and oils. It is an odorless, colorless oil, although commercial samples may be yellowish. In chemical terms, oleic acid is classified as a monounsaturated o ...
and palmitic acid
Palmitic acid (hexadecanoic acid in IUPAC nomenclature) is a fatty acid with a 16-carbon chain. It is the most common saturated fatty acid found in animals, plants and microorganisms.Gunstone, F. D., John L. Harwood, and Albert J. Dijkstra. The ...
are common, which is to be expected). Oils amount to 10[-17%][ of the weight of the seeds. The seeds also contain 30][-37.5][-67.11%][ protein, which researchers suggest might in the future be used as animal feed.][
]
As traditional medicine
The bark is used as an astringent
An astringent (sometimes called adstringent) is a chemical that shrinks or constricts body tissues. The word derives from the Latin ''adstringere'', which means "to bind fast". Calamine lotion, witch hazel, and yerba mansa, a Californian pla ...
[Commission for the Knowledge and Use of Biodiversity: ''Pithecellobium Dulce'': http://www.conabio.gob.mx/conocimiento/info_especies/arboles/doctos/45-legum38m.pdf] for dysentery
Dysentery (UK pronunciation: , US: ), historically known as the bloody flux, is a type of gastroenteritis that results in bloody diarrhea. Other symptoms may include fever, abdominal pain, and a feeling of incomplete defecation. Complications ...
in India,
It is said to have been used as an antipyretic
An antipyretic (, from ''anti-'' 'against' and ' 'feverish') is a substance that reduces fever. Antipyretics cause the hypothalamus to override a prostaglandin-induced increase in temperature. The body then works to lower the temperature, which r ...
in India (information originally from 1933),[ used for eye inflammation, although an anecdote from Sri Lanka claims the bark contains a substance that causes eye infections and swelling of the eyelids.][
The Huastec people of northern ]Veracruz
Veracruz (), formally Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave (), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave), is one of the 31 states which, along with Me ...
and San Luis Potosí
San Luis Potosí (), officially the Free and Sovereign State of San Luis Potosí ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de San Luis Potosí), is one of the 32 states which compose the Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided in 58 municipalities and i ...
in Mexico used different parts of the tree to treat gum ailments, toothache and cancer.
The leaves are said to be used in a poultice
A poultice, also called a cataplasm, is a soft moist mass, often heated and medicated, that is spread on cloth and placed over the skin to treat an aching, inflamed, or painful part of the body. It can be used on wounds, such as cuts.
'Poultice ...
with alcohol to treat bile, as well as being used to prevent abortions/miscarriage
Miscarriage, also known in medical terms as a spontaneous abortion and pregnancy loss, is the death of an embryo or fetus before it is able to survive independently. Miscarriage before 6 weeks of gestation is defined by ESHRE as biochemica ...
, although the leaves are also said to be used to cause abortions.[
The pulp from the fruits is said to be astringent and hemostatic, and used for ]hemoptysis
Hemoptysis is the coughing up of blood or blood-stained mucus from the bronchi, larynx, trachea, or lungs. In other words, it is the airway bleeding. This can occur with lung cancer, infections such as tuberculosis, bronchitis, or pneumonia, a ...
.
The ground seed is sometimes traditionally used to clean ulcers.
Non-specified parts of the plant are said to be used extract is also used against hemorrhages
Bleeding, hemorrhage, haemorrhage or blood loss, is blood escaping from the circulatory system from damaged blood vessels. Bleeding can occur internally, or externally either through a natural opening such as the mouth, nose, ear, urethra, ...
, chronic diarrhea
Diarrhea, also spelled diarrhoea, is the condition of having at least three loose, liquid, or watery bowel movements each day. It often lasts for a few days and can result in dehydration due to fluid loss. Signs of dehydration often begin w ...
, and tuberculosis
Tuberculosis (TB) is an infectious disease usually caused by '' Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (MTB) bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but it can also affect other parts of the body. Most infections show no symptoms, ...
.
Ecology
''Pithecellobium dulce'' is a host plant for the caterpillar
Caterpillars ( ) are the larval stage of members of the order Lepidoptera (the insect order comprising butterflies and moths).
As with most common names, the application of the word is arbitrary, since the larvae of sawflies (suborder Sy ...
s of the Common nawab (''Polyura athamas
''Polyura athamas'', the common nawab, is a species of fast-flying canopy butterfly found in tropical Asia. It belongs to the Charaxinae (rajahs and nawabs) in the brush-footed butterfly family (Nymphalidae).
It occurs in the Himalayas from Ka ...
''), three-spot grass yellow (''Eurema blanda
''Eurema blanda'', the three-spot grass yellow, is a small butterfly of the family Pieridae which is found in Sri Lanka, India and southeast Asia.
Description
Life Cycle
Egg
Pale yellowish oval-shaped eggs are laid under or upper the le ...
''), Bright babul blue ('' Azanus ubaldus'') and several moths.
Synonyms
''Pithecellobium dulce'' is known under numerous junior synonym
The Botanical and Zoological Codes of nomenclature treat the concept of synonymy differently.
* In botanical nomenclature, a synonym is a scientific name that applies to a taxon that (now) goes by a different scientific name. For example, Linn ...
s:[International Legume Database & Information Service (ILDIS) (2005)]
''Pithecellobium dulce''
Version 10.01, November 2005. Retrieved 25 July 2018.
* ''Acacia
''Acacia'', commonly known as the wattles or acacias, is a large genus of shrubs and trees in the subfamily Mimosoideae of the pea family Fabaceae. Initially, it comprised a group of plant species native to Africa and Australasia. The genus nam ...
obliquifolia'' M.Martens & Galeotti
* ''Albizia
''Albizia'' is a genus of more than 160 species of mostly fast-growing subtropical and tropical trees and shrubs in the subfamily Mimosoideae of the family Fabaceae. The genus is pantropical, occurring in Asia, Africa, Madagascar, America and A ...
dulcis'' (Roxb.) F.Muell.
* ''Feuilleea dulcis'' (Roxb.) Kuntze
* ''Inga
''Inga'' is a genus of small tropical, tough-leaved, nitrogen-fixing treesElkan, Daniel. "Slash-and-burn farming has become a major threat to the world's rainforest" ''The Guardian'' 21 April 2004 and shrubs, subfamily Mimosoideae. ''Inga''s ...
camatchili'' Perr.
* ''Inga dulcis'' (Roxb.) Willd.
* ''Inga javana'' DC.
* ''Inga javanica'' DC.
* ''Inga lanceolata'' ''sensu'' Blanco
* ''Inga lanceolata'' Willd. is ''Pithecellobium lanceolatum''
* ''Inga leucantha'' C.Presl
* ''Inga pungens'' Willd.
* ''Mimosa
''Mimosa'' is a genus of about 590 species of herbs and shrubs, in the mimosoid clade of the legume family Fabaceae. The generic name is derived from the Greek word (''mimos''), an "actor" or "mime", and the feminine suffix -''osa'', "resemb ...
dulcis'' Roxb.
* ''Mimosa edulis'' Gagnep.
* ''Mimosa pungens'' (Willd.) Poir.
* ''Mimosa unguis-cati'' Blanco
* ''Mimosa unguis-cati'' L. is ''Pithecellobium unguis-cati''
* ''Pithecellobium littorale'' Record
* ''Pithecollobium dulce'' (Roxb.) Benth. (''lapsus
In philology, a lapsus ( Latin for "lapse, slip, error") is an involuntary mistake made while writing or speaking.
Investigations
In 1895 an investigation into verbal slips was undertaken by a philologist and a psychologist, Rudolf Meringer and ...
'')
References
External links
*
*
USDA Plants Profile: ''Pithecellobium dulce''
Mexican Government's Commission for the Knowledge and Use of Biodiversity: Pithecellobium dulce
{{Taxonbar, from=Q15248750
dulce
Trees of Central America
Trees of South America
Trees of Colombia
Trees of Mexico
Trees of Venezuela
Flora of the Atlantic Forest
Flora of northern South America
Plants described in 1844
Medicinal plants of North America
Edible legumes