Canarium

''Canarium'' is a genus of about 100 species of tropical and subtropical trees, in the family Burseraceae. They grow naturally across tropical Africa, south and southeast Asia, Indochina, Malesia, Australia and western Pacific Islands; including from southern Nigeria east to Madagascar, Mauritius, Sri Lanka and India; from Burma, Malaysia and Thailand through the Malay Peninsula and Vietnam to south China, Taiwan and the Philippines; through Borneo, Indonesia, Timor and New Guinea, through to the Solomon Islands, Vanuatu, New Caledonia, Fiji, Samoa, Tonga and Palau.

''Canarium'' species grow up to large evergreen trees of tall, and have alternately arranged, pinnate leaves. They are dioecious, with male and female flowers growing on separate trees.

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.

Species

This species listing was sourced from ''The Plant List'' data aggregation website that takes in some inaccurate data. The brief species distribution information was sourced from ''Flora Malesiana'', the ''Flora of China'' (series) and the ''Australian Tropical Rainforest Plants'' information system.

* '' Canarium acutifolium'' – New Guinea, Maluku, Sulawesi, New Britain, New Ireland, Bougainville, Qld Australia
* ''Canarium album'' Chinese white olive (橄榄) – Taiwan, S China, Vietnam
* '' Canarium apertum'' – Sumatra, Malay Peninsula, Borneo
* '' Canarium asperum'' – New Guinea, Maluku, Sulawesi, Philippines, Borneo, Java, Sumbawa, Sumba, Flores, Timor, Solomon Is.,
* ''Canarium australasicum'' – Qld, NSW, Australia endemic
* '' Canarium australianum'' – New Guinea, Qld, NT, WA, Australia
* '' Canarium balansae'' – New Caledonia endemic
* '' Canarium balsamiferum'' – Maluku, Sulawesi
* '' Canarium batjanense'' –
* '' Canarium bengalense'' – India, Burma, Laos, Thailand, S China
* '' Canarium caudatum'' – Sumatra, Malay Peninsula, Borneo
* '' Canarium cestracion'' – E New Guinea
* '' Canarium chinare'' – Solomon Is., Admiralty Is.
* '' Canarium cinereum'' –
* '' Canarium copaliferum'' –
* '' Canarium decumanum'' – E Borneo, Maluku, New Guinea, Sulawesi
* '' Canarium denticulatum'' – Andaman Is., Burma, Sumatra, Malay Penin., Java, Borneo, Philippines
* '' Canarium dichotomum'' – Sumatra, Borneo
* '' Canarium divergens'' – Borneo
* '' Canarium elegans'' — Madagascar
* '' Canarium engleri'' –
* '' Canarium euphyllum'' –
* '' Canarium euryphyllum'' – Philippines
* '' Canarium fuscocalycinum'' – Borneo
* '' Canarium gracile'' – Philippines
* '' Canarium grandifolium'' – Malay Peninsula
* '' Canarium harami'' –
* '' Canarium harveyi'' –
* '' Canarium hirsutum'' – New Guinea to throughout Malesia, Solomon Is., Palau
* '' Canarium indicum'' – New Guinea, New Britain, New Ireland, Solomon Is., Vanuatu, Maluku, Sulawesi
* '' Canarium intermedium'' – S Sumatra
* '' Canarium kaniense'' – New Guinea
* '' Canarium karoense'' – N Sumatra
* '' Canarium kerrii'' –
* '' Canarium kinabaluense'' – N Borneo
* '' Canarium kipella'' – W Java
* '' Canarium kostermansii'' – Borneo
* '' Canarium lamii'' – New Guinea
* '' Canarium latistipulatum'' – Borneo
* '' Canarium liguliferum'' –
* '' Canarium littorale'' – Indo-China, Sumatra, Malay Peninsula, Java, Borneo
* ''Canarium luzonicum'' – Philippines
* '' Canarium lyi'' –
* '' Canarium macadamii'' – New Guinea
* '' Canarium madagascariense'' –
* '' Canarium maluense'' – Sulawesi, Maluku, New Guinea, Borneo
* '' Canarium megacarpum'' – New Guinea
* '' Canarium megalanthum'' – Sumatra, Malay Peninsula, Borneo
* '' Canarium merrillii'' – Borneo
* '' Canarium muelleri'' – Queensland endemic, Australia
* '' Canarium odontophyllum'' – Sumatra, Borneo, Philippines (Palawan)
* '' Canarium oleiferum'' – New Caledonia endemic
* '' Canarium oleosum'' – New Guinea, New Britain, Timor, Maluku, Sulawesi
* '' Canarium ovatum'' – Philippines, cultivated Asia–Pacific
* '' Canarium paniculatum'' –
* '' Canarium parvum'' – S China, Vietnam
* '' Canarium patentinervium'' – Sumatra, Malay Peninsula, Banka, Borneo
* '' Canarium perlisanum'' – Malay Peninsula (Perlis)
* '' Canarium pilososylvestre'' – W New Guinea
* '' Canarium pilosum'' – Sumatra, Malay Peninsula, Borneo
** subsp. ''borneensis'' – Borneo
* '' Canarium pimela'' Chinese black olive (乌榄) – Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos, S China
* '' Canarium polyphyllum'' – New Guinea
* '' Canarium pseudodecumanum'' – Sumatra, Malay Peninsula, Borneo
* '' Canarium pseudopatentinervium'' – S Sumatra, Banka, Borneo
* '' Canarium pseudopimela'' –
* '' Canarium pseudosumatranum'' – Malay Peninsula
* '' Canarium reniforme'' –
* '' Canarium resiniferum'' –
* '' Canarium rigidum'' – New Guinea
* '' Canarium rotundifolium'' –
* '' Canarium sarawakanum'' –
* ''Canarium schweinfurthii'' – African canarium; from Nigeria and Angola to Uganda
* '' Canarium sikkimense'' –
* '' Canarium solomonense'' – New Guinea
* '' Canarium strictum'' – India, Burma, S China
* '' Canarium subulatum'' – Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos, S China
* '' Canarium sumatranum'' – Sumatra, Malay Peninsula
* '' Canarium sylvestre'' – New Guinea, Maluku
* '' Canarium thorelianum'' –
* '' Canarium trifoliolatum'' – New Caledonia endemic
* '' Canarium trigonum'' – Sulawesi
* ''Canarium vanikoroense'' –
* '' Canarium venosum'' –
* '' Canarium vitiense'' – Fiji, Solomon Is., Samoa, Tonga, New Guinea, Bismarck Arch., Admiralty Is., Louisiade Arch., Torres Strait I's, Qld Australia
* '' Canarium vittatistipulatum'' –
* '' Canarium vrieseanum'' – Philippines, Sulawesi
* '' Canarium vulgare'' – Flores, Timor, Sulawesi, Maluku
* '' Canarium whitei'' – New Caledonia endemic
* '' Canarium zeylanicum'' –

Uses and ecology

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.Pili Nut, ''Canarium ovatum'', New Crop Fact Sheet.
Purdue University Center for New Crops and Plant Products.

'' 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'').

''Canarium album'' produces a fruit consumed in Vietnam, Thailand (where it is known as ''nam liap'' ( th, หนำเลี้ยบ), ''samo chin'' ( th, สมอจีน) or ''kana'' ( th, 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.

'' Canarium strictum'' produces a resin called black dammar.

Superb fruit-doves (''Ptilinopus superbus'') are known to be fond of the fruit of scrub turpentine (''C. australianum''), which they swallow whole.

References

External links

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{{Taxonbar, from=Q2367663

Burseraceae genera
Dioecious plants