''Averrhoa'' is a genus of trees in the family

Oxalidaceae The Oxalidaceae, or wood sorrel family, are a small family of five genera of herbaceous plants, shrubs and small trees, with the great majority of the 570 species in the genus ''Oxalis'' (wood sorrels). Members of this family typically have divid ...

. It includes five species native to

Java Java is one of the Greater Sunda Islands in Indonesia. It is bordered by the Indian Ocean to the south and the Java Sea (a part of Pacific Ocean) to the north. With a population of 156.9 million people (including Madura) in mid 2024, proje ...

, the

Maluku Islands The Maluku Islands ( ; , ) or the Moluccas ( ; ) are an archipelago in the eastern part of Indonesia. Tectonics, Tectonically they are located on the Halmahera Plate within the Molucca Sea Collision Zone. Geographically they are located in West ...

New Guinea New Guinea (; Hiri Motu: ''Niu Gini''; , fossilized , also known as Papua or historically ) is the List of islands by area, world's second-largest island, with an area of . Located in Melanesia in the southwestern Pacific Ocean, the island is ...

Sulawesi Sulawesi ( ), also known as Celebes ( ), is an island in Indonesia. One of the four Greater Sunda Islands, and the List of islands by area, world's 11th-largest island, it is situated east of Borneo, west of the Maluku Islands, and south of Min ...

, and

Vietnam Vietnam, officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam (SRV), is a country at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of about and a population of over 100 million, making it the world's List of countries and depende ...

. The genus is named after

Averroes Ibn Rushd (14 April 112611 December 1198), archaically Latinization of names, Latinized as Averroes, was an Arab Muslim polymath and Faqīh, jurist from Al-Andalus who wrote about many subjects, including philosophy, theology, medicine, astron ...

, a 12th-century

astronomer An astronomer is a scientist in the field of astronomy who focuses on a specific question or field outside the scope of Earth. Astronomers observe astronomical objects, such as stars, planets, natural satellite, moons, comets and galaxy, galax ...

and

philosopher Philosophy ('love of wisdom' in Ancient Greek) is a systematic study of general and fundamental questions concerning topics like existence, reason, knowledge, Value (ethics and social sciences), value, mind, and language. It is a rational an ...

from

Al-Andalus Al-Andalus () was the Muslim-ruled area of the Iberian Peninsula. The name refers to the different Muslim states that controlled these territories at various times between 711 and 1492. At its greatest geographical extent, it occupied most o ...

. Two species, the

carambola Carambola, also known as star fruit, is the fruit of '' Averrhoa carambola'', a species of tree native to tropical Southeast Asia. The edible fruit has distinctive ridges running down its sides (usually 5–6). When cut in cross-section, it re ...

and the

bilimbi ''Averrhoa bilimbi'' (commonly known as bilimbi, cucumber tree, or tree sorrel) is a fruit-bearing tree of the genus ''Averrhoa'', family (biology), family Oxalidaceae. It is believed to be originally native to the Maluku Islands of Indonesia but ...

, are cultivated for their fruits.

Species

Five species are accepted. *''

Averrhoa bilimbi ''Averrhoa bilimbi'' (commonly known as bilimbi, cucumber tree, or tree sorrel) is a fruit-bearing tree of the genus ''Averrhoa'', family (biology), family Oxalidaceae. It is believed to be originally native to the Maluku Islands of Indonesia but ...

'' – bilimbi *'' Averrhoa carambola'' – starfruit or carambola *'' Averrhoa dolichocarpa'' *'' Averrhoa leucopetala'' *'' Averrhoa microphylla''

References

Oxalidaceae Oxalidales genera Taxa described in 1753 Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus {{Oxalidales-stub