''Terminalia catappa'' is a large
tropical tree in the leadwood tree family,
Combretaceae, native to Asia, Australia, the Pacific, Madagascar and
Seychelles.
Common names in English include country almond, Indian almond, Malabar almond, sea almond, tropical almond,
beach almond and false kamani.
Description
The tree grows to tall, with an upright, symmetrical crown and horizontal branches. The fruit are corky and light, and dispersed by water. As the tree gets older, its crown becomes more flattened to form a spreading, vase shape. Its branches are distinctively arranged in tiers. The leaves are large, long and broad, ovoid, glossy dark green, and leathery. They are dry-season
deciduous; before falling, they turn pinkish-reddish or yellow-brown, due to
pigments such as
violaxanthin,
lutein, and
zeaxanthin.
The trees are
monoecious
Monoecy (; adj. monoecious ) is a sexual system in seed plants where separate male and female cones or flowers are present on the same plant. It is a monomorphic sexual system alongside gynomonoecy, andromonoecy and trimonoecy.
Monoecy is conne ...
, with distinct male and female flowers on the same tree. Both are in diameter, white to greenish, inconspicuous with no petals; they are produced on axillary or terminal spikes. The
fruit is a
drupe
In botany, a drupe (or stone fruit) is an indehiscent fruit in which an outer fleshy part (exocarp, or skin, and mesocarp, or flesh) surrounds a single shell (the ''pit'', ''stone'', or '' pyrena'') of hardened endocarp with a seed (''kernel'') ...
long and broad, green at first, then yellow and finally red when ripe, containing a single
seed. Pollen grains measure about 30 microns.
The
species epithet is based on its Malay name ''Ketapang''.
Distribution and habitat
The tree has been spread widely by humans, so the native range is uncertain. It has long been naturalised in a broad belt extending from Africa to northern
Australia
Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...
and
New Guinea through
southeast Asia and
Micronesia into the
Indian subcontinent. More recently, the plant has been introduced to parts of the
Americas
The Americas, which are sometimes collectively called America, are a landmass comprising the totality of North and South America. The Americas make up most of the land in Earth's Western Hemisphere and comprise the New World.
Along with th ...
. Until the mid-20th century, the tree had been used extensively in Brazilian urban landscaping, since being a rare case tropical deciduous, their fallen leaves would give a "European" flair to the street. This practice is currently abolished, and the "amendoeiras" are being replaced by native, evergreen trees.
Cultivation and uses
''T. catappa'' is widely grown in
tropical regions of the world as an
ornamental tree
Ornamental plants or garden plants are plants that are primarily grown for their beauty but also for qualities such as scent or how they shape physical space. Many flowering plants and garden varieties tend to be specially bred cultivars that i ...
, grown for the deep shade its large leaves provide. The fruit is edible, tasting slightly acidic. The seeds are edible raw or cooked when ripe and the source of its 'almond' common names, but are small and difficult to extract.
The wood is red and solid, and has high water resistance; it has been used in
Polynesia for making
canoes. In
Tamil, almond is known as ''nattuvadumai''.
The leaves contain several
flavonoid
Flavonoids (or bioflavonoids; from the Latin word ''flavus'', meaning yellow, their color in nature) are a class of polyphenolic secondary metabolites found in plants, and thus commonly consumed in the diets of humans.
Chemically, flavonoids ...
s (such as
kaempferol or
quercetin), several
tannins (such as
punicalin,
punicalagin or
tercatin),
saponines and
phytosterols. Due to this chemical richness, the leaves (and the bark) are used in different
herbal medicine
Herbal medicine (also herbalism) is the study of pharmacognosy and the use of medicinal plants, which are a basis of traditional medicine. With worldwide research into pharmacology, some herbal medicines have been translated into modern remed ...
s for various purposes. For instance in
Taiwan, fallen leaves are used as an herb to treat
liver diseases. In
Suriname
Suriname (; srn, Sranankondre or ), officially the Republic of Suriname ( nl, Republiek Suriname , srn, Ripolik fu Sranan), is a country on the northeastern Atlantic coast of South America. It is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the north ...
, an
herbal tea made from the leaves has been prescribed against
dysentery and
diarrhea. The leaves may contain agents for prevention of
cancers (although they have no demonstrated anticarcinogenic properties) and
antioxidant
Antioxidants are compounds that inhibit oxidation, a chemical reaction that can produce free radicals. This can lead to polymerization and other chain reactions. They are frequently added to industrial products, such as fuels and lubricant ...
s, as well as anti
clastogenic
A clastogen is a mutagenic agent that disturbs normal DNA related processes or directly causes DNA strand breakages, thus causing the deletion, insertion, or rearrangement of entire chromosome sections. These processes are a form of mutagenesi ...
characteristics. Extracts of have shown activity against ''
Plasmodium falciparum
''Plasmodium falciparum'' is a Unicellular organism, unicellular protozoan parasite of humans, and the deadliest species of ''Plasmodium'' that causes malaria in humans. The parasite is transmitted through the bite of a female ''Anopheles'' mosqu ...
'' chloroquine (CQ)-resistant (FcB1) and CQ-sensitive (HB3) strains.
Keeping the leaves in an aquarium may lower the pH and heavy-metal content of the water. It has been used in this way by fish breeders for many years, and is active against some parasites and bacterial pathogens.
It is also believed to help prevent fungus forming on the eggs of the fish.
Gallery
File:A Hoverfly on a Desi Badam (Terminalia catappa) in Hyderabad, AP W IMG 0494.jpg, Inflorescence
File:Almendro (Terminalia catappa) (14787612664).jpg, Foliage and immature inflorescences
File:Terminalia catappa fruits at various stages of ripeness-1.JPG, Fruits at various stages of ripeness: one cut open to reveal the edible kernel within the hard endocarp, and another partially opened to reveal the fleshy mesocarp surrounding the fibrous inner layers
File:Starr 080604-6222 Terminalia catappa.jpg, Tree canopy on Sand Island, Midway Atoll
Midway Atoll (colloquial: Midway Islands; haw, Kauihelani, translation=the backbone of heaven; haw, Pihemanu, translation=the loud din of birds, label=none) is a atoll in the North Pacific Ocean. Midway Atoll is an insular area of the Unit ...
File:欖仁樹 Terminalia catappa 20210121125731 01.jpg, In winter
References
External links
*
Indian almond leaves Website devoted to Indian almond leaves in folk medicine, modern medicine and aquariums
Blog on ketapang leaves
{{Taxonbar, from=Q271179
catappa
Flora of Madagascar
Flora of Seychelles
Flora of tropical Asia
Flora of China
Flora of Taiwan
Flora of the Southwestern Pacific
Flora of Queensland
Flora of the Northern Territory
Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus