''Sarcotheca diversifolia'', also known as pupoi or belimbing bulat in Malay and more locally as tabarus, piang or belimbing hutan, is a species of flowering plant, a fruit tree in the wood sorrel family, that is native to Southeast Asia.

Description

The species grows as a tree to 30 m in height, with a fluted bole of up to 5 m, sometimes with buttresses up to 2 m. The oval leaves are 3–10 cm long by 1–5 cm wide. The inflorescences comprise clusters of

panicle A panicle is a much-branched inflorescence. (softcover ). Some authors distinguish it from a compound spike inflorescence, by requiring that the flowers (and fruit) be pedicellate (having a single stem per flower). The branches of a panicle are of ...

s of pink and purple flowers in the leaf axils. The oval berries are 2–3 cm by 1.5–2 cm in diameter, green to yellowish-green ripening yellow, with the seeds contained in the edible, juicy, fleshy, translucent to white mesocarp. The species is occasionally cultivated and the fruits eaten raw or cooked with meat and vegetables.

Distribution and habitat

The species is found in Borneo and

Sumatra Sumatra is one of the Sunda Islands of western Indonesia. It is the largest island that is fully within Indonesian territory, as well as the sixth-largest island in the world at 473,481 km2 (182,812 mi.2), not including adjacent i ...

. It occurs in mixed lowland and hill dipterocarp, peatswamp and

secondary forest A secondary forest (or second-growth forest) is a forest or woodland area which has re-grown after a timber harvest or clearing for agriculture, until a long enough period has passed so that the effects of the disturbance are no longer evident. ...

s, up to an elevation of 900 m.

References

diversifolia Flora of Borneo Flora of Sumatra Fruits originating in Asia Plants described in 1861 Taxa named by Friedrich Anton Wilhelm Miquel {{Oxalidales-stub