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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 (), commonly called angiosperms. They include all forbs (flowering plants without a woody stem), grasses and grass-like plants, a vast majority of ...
s in the cashew
The cashew tree (''Anacardium occidentale'') is a tropical evergreen tree native to South America in the genus '' Anacardium'' that produces the cashew seed and the cashew apple accessory fruit. The tree can grow as tall as , but the dwarf c ...
family, Anacardiaceae
The Anacardiaceae, commonly known as the cashew family or sumac family, are a family of flowering plants, including about 83 genera with about 860 known species. Members of the Anacardiaceae bear fruits that are drupes and in some cases produce ...
. 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 bi ...
and about 10 are native to tropical Asia
Tropical Asia refers to the entirety of the areas in Asia with a tropical climate. These areas are of geographic and economic importance due to their natural resources and biodiversity, which include many species of agricultural value. There are ...
. They are commonly named hog plums, Spanish plums, libas in Bikol and in some cases golden apples for their brightly colored fruit which resemble an apple
An apple is an edible fruit produced by an apple tree (''Malus domestica''). Apple trees are cultivated worldwide and are the most widely grown species in the genus '' Malus''. The tree originated in Central Asia, where its wild ances ...
or small plum
A plum is a fruit of some species in ''Prunus'' subg. ''Prunus'.'' Dried plums are called prunes.
History
Plums may have been one of the first fruits domesticated by humans. Three of the most abundantly cultivated species are not found ...
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 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 estimated populatio ...
, Thailand is that the name is derived from th, -มะกอกน้ำ; '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), 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, ''Ambade'' in Tulu and Konkani. 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, with a population exceeding 165 million pe ...
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 leaves, usually in the autumn; to the shedding of petals, a ...
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, including only woody plants with secondary growth, plants that are ...
s growing to 25 m tall. The leaves are spirally arranged, pinnate
Pinnation (also called pennation) is the arrangement of feather-like or multi-divided features arising from both sides of a common axis. Pinnation occurs in biological morphology, in crystals, such as some forms of ice or metal crystals, an ...
, rarely bipinnate or simple. The fruit
In botany, a fruit is the seed-bearing structure in flowering plants that is formed from the ovary after flowering.
Fruits are the means by which flowering plants (also known as angiosperms) disseminate their seeds. Edible fruits in partic ...
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 (''kerne ...
similar to a small mango
A mango is an edible stone fruit produced by the tropical tree '' Mangifera indica''. It is believed to have originated in the region between northwestern Myanmar, Bangladesh, and northeastern India. ''M. indica'' has been cultivated in Sout ...
(in the related genus ''Mangifera
''Mangifera'' is a genus of flowering plants in the cashew family, Anacardiaceae. It contains approximately 69 species, with the best-known being the Common Mango ('' Mangifera indica''). The center of diversity of the genus is in the Malesian ec ...
''), 4–10 cm long, ripening yellow or orange. It has a single seed
A seed is an embryonic plant enclosed in a protective outer covering, along with a food reserve. The formation of the seed is a part of the process of reproduction in seed plants, the spermatophytes, including the gymnosperm and angiosper ...
.
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 (; ISO: , , also known as Karunāḍu) is a state in the southwestern region of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, with the passage of the States Reorganisation Act. Originally known as Mysore State , it was renamed ''Kar ...
flower buds and tender fruits are used in pickle preparation.
In Thai cuisine
Thai cuisine ( th, อาหารไทย, , ) is the national cuisine of Thailand.
Thai cooking places emphasis on lightly prepared dishes with strong aromatic components and a spicy edge. Australian chef David Thompson, an expert on Th ...
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'' has 19 accepted species: Selected synonyms include: * '' Spondias cytherea'' — synonym of '' Spondias dulcis'' * ''Spondias haplophylla
''Spondias'' is a genus of flowering plants in the cashew family, Anacardiaceae. The genus consists of 17 described species, 7 of which are native to the Neotropics and about 10 are native to tropical Asia. They are commonly named hog plums, ...
'' — synonym of '' Bouea oppositifolia''
* ''Spondias indica
''Spondias'' is a genus of flowering plants in the cashew family, Anacardiaceae. The genus consists of 17 described species, 7 of which are native to the Neotropics and about 10 are native to tropical Asia. They are commonly named hog plums, ...
'' — synonym of ''Solenocarpus indicus
''Solenocarpus'' is a genus of flowering plants belonging to the family Anacardiaceae.
Its native range is Southern India, Malesia to New Guinea
New Guinea (; Hiri Motu
Hiri Motu, also known as Police Motu, Pidgin Motu, or just Hiri, i ...
''
* '' Spondias lakonensis'' — synonym of '' Allospondias lakonensis''
References
External links
{{Taxonbar, from=Q311460 Anacardiaceae genera Fruit trees