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''Spondias'' is a genus of 
A theory regarding the name of the city of
About 10 species of ''Spondias'' bear edible fruits and have been domesticated for fruit production. These fruits are also consumed by herbivorous mammals such as deer.
In the Western Ghats of
flowering plant
Flowering plants are plants that bear flowers and fruits, and form the clade Angiospermae (). The term angiosperm is derived from the Ancient Greek, Greek words (; 'container, vessel') and (; 'seed'), meaning that the seeds are enclosed with ...
s in the cashew
Cashew is the common name of a tropical evergreen tree ''Anacardium occidentale'', in the family Anacardiaceae. It is native to South America and is the source of the cashew nut and the cashew apple, an accessory fruit. The tree can grow as t ...
family, Anacardiaceae. The genus consists of 17 described species, 7 of which are native to the Neotropics
The Neotropical realm is one of the eight biogeographic realms constituting Earth's land surface. Physically, it includes the tropical terrestrial ecoregions of the Americas and the entire South American temperate zone.
Definition
In biogeog ...
and about 10 are native to tropical Asia. They are commonly named hog plums, Spanish plums, Ciruelas in Cuba
Cuba, officially the Republic of Cuba, is an island country, comprising the island of Cuba (largest island), Isla de la Juventud, and List of islands of Cuba, 4,195 islands, islets and cays surrounding the main island. It is located where the ...
, libas in Bikol and in some cases golden apples for their brightly colored fruit which resemble an apple
An apple is a round, edible fruit produced by an apple tree (''Malus'' spp.). Fruit trees of the orchard or domestic apple (''Malus domestica''), the most widely grown in the genus, are agriculture, cultivated worldwide. The tree originated ...
or small plum
A plum is a fruit of some species in Prunus subg. Prunus, ''Prunus'' subg. ''Prunus'.'' Dried plums are often called prunes, though in the United States they may be labeled as 'dried plums', especially during the 21st century.
Plums are ...
at a casual glance. They are only distantly related to apple and plum trees, however. A more unequivocal common name is mombins.
A theory regarding the name of the city of Bangkok
Bangkok, officially known in Thai language, Thai as Krung Thep Maha Nakhon and colloquially as Krung Thep, is the capital and most populous city of Thailand. The city occupies in the Chao Phraya River delta in central Thailand and has an estim ...
, Thailand is that the name is derived from ; 'water olive', the Thai name for the fruit of '' Spondias dulcis''. In Cambodia, ''Spondias pinnata'' is called /pɷːn siː pʰlaɛ/ (ពោនស៊ីផ្លែ) or /məkaʔ prẹj/ (ម្កាក់ព្រៃ),LETI, Mathieu, HUL Sovanmoly, Jean-Gabriel FOUCHÉ, CHENG Sun Kaing, Bruno DAVID, ''Flore photographique du Cambodge'', Paris: Privat, 2013, p. 63. and ''Spondias dulcis'' simply /məkaʔ/ (ម្កាក់). ''Spondias pinnata'' is called ''Pulicha kaai'' in the Tamil language, which means "sour fruit." It is also called "Amate Kaai" in the Kannada language
Kannada () is a Dravidian languages, Dravidian language spoken predominantly in the state of Karnataka in southwestern India, and spoken by a minority of the population in all neighbouring states. It has 44 million native speakers, an ...
, ''Ambade'' in Tulu and Konkani __NOTOC__
Konkani may refer to:
Language
* Konkani language is an Indo-Aryan language spoken in the Konkan region of India.
* Konkani alphabets, different scripts used to write the language
**Konkani in the Roman script, one of the scripts used to ...
. In Sri Lanka it is called ''Amberella''. In Bangladesh
Bangladesh, officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, eighth-most populous country in the world and among the List of countries and dependencies by ...
it is known as ''Aamra'' (আমড়া) and when served with seasonings it is a very popular street food.
Description
They aredeciduous
In the fields of horticulture and botany, the term deciduous () means "falling off at maturity" and "tending to fall off", in reference to trees and shrubs that seasonally shed Leaf, leaves, usually in the autumn; to the shedding of petals, aft ...
or semi-evergreen 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, e.g., including only woody plants with secondary growth, only ...
s growing to 25 m tall. The leaves
A leaf (: leaves) is a principal appendage of the stem of a vascular plant, usually borne laterally above ground and specialized for photosynthesis. Leaves are collectively called foliage, as in "autumn foliage", while the leaves, stem, ...
are spirally arranged, pinnate, rarely bipinnate or simple. The fruit
In botany, a fruit is the seed-bearing structure in flowering plants (angiosperms) that is formed from the ovary after flowering.
Fruits are the means by which angiosperms disseminate their seeds. Edible fruits in particular have long propaga ...
is a drupe
In botany, a drupe (or stone fruit) is a type of fruit in which an outer fleshy part (exocarp, or skin, and mesocarp, or flesh) surrounds a single shell (the ''pip'' (UK), ''pit'' (US), ''stone'', or ''pyrena'') of hardened endocarp with a seed ...
similar to a small mango
A mango is an edible stone fruit produced by the tropical tree '' Mangifera indica''. It originated from the region between northwestern Myanmar, Bangladesh, and northeastern India. ''M. indica'' has been cultivated in South and Southeast As ...
(in the related genus '' Mangifera''), 4–10 cm long, ripening yellow or orange. It has a single seed
In botany, a seed is a plant structure containing an embryo and stored nutrients in a protective coat called a ''testa''. More generally, the term "seed" means anything that can be Sowing, sown, which may include seed and husk or tuber. Seeds ...
.
The Malesian species of ''Spondias'' were revised by Ding Hou in 1978.''Flora Malesiana'' series 1, 8(3):395-577. The most recently recognized species, '' Spondias testudinis'', was described in 1998.John D. Mitchell and Douglas C. Daly. 1998. "The "tortoise's cajá" - a new species of ''Spondias'' (Anacardiaceae) from southwestern Amazonia" ''Brittonia'' 50( ):447-451.
As food
About 10 species of ''Spondias'' bear edible fruits and have been domesticated for fruit production. These fruits are also consumed by herbivorous mammals such as deer.
In the Western Ghats of Karnataka
Karnataka ( ) is a States and union territories of India, state in the southwestern region of India. It was Unification of Karnataka, formed as Mysore State on 1 November 1956, with the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, 1956, States Re ...
flower buds and tender fruits are used in pickle preparation.
In Thai cuisine both the fruits and the tender leaves are eaten. In Odisha its called ambada, the fruit is used as a souring agent in curries.
Selected species
, ''Plants of the World online'' accepts 18 species: Selected synonyms include: * '' Spondias cytherea'' — synonym of '' Spondias dulcis'' * '' Spondias haplophylla'' — synonym of '' Bouea oppositifolia'' * '' Spondias indica'' — synonym of '' Solenocarpus indicus'' * '' Spondias lakonensis'' — synonym of '' Allospondias lakonensis''References
External links
{{Authority control Anacardiaceae genera Fruit trees Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus