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Antidesma bunius
Also called Chinese Laurel, Herbert River Cherry, Queensland Cherry, Bignay China Laurel, Currant Tree, Salamander Tree, Wild Cherry
In Singapore: Chinese Laurel, Currantwood, Buni, Berunai, Bignay, 五月茶, 枯里珍树 (Naturalised in Singapore)
1 NParks heritage tree in Singapore: Found in Singapore Botanic Gardens Lawn H
Bignay (Antidesma bunius) is a large evergreen fruit tree from tropical Asia and northern Australia, grown for its sour-sweet fruit used in wine, jam and cooking. Grow it in a warm, humid, frost-free tropical climate with rich, moist soil and room for a tall canopy.
Antidesma bunius is a species of fruit tree in the family Phyllanthaceae. It is native to South Asia, Southeast Asia, Melanesia, and northern Australia. It is commonly known as bignay, after its native name in the Philippines, where the fruits are commonly used for making bignay wine and jams. It is also known more ambiguously as Chinese laurel, Queensland cherry, salamander tree, wild cherry, and currant tree.
The native range of wild trees of Antidesma bunius extends from parts of South Asia (Sri Lanka and the lower Himalayan regions of India, as well as the Andaman and Nicobar Islands), to Southeast Asia (the Philippines, parts of Indonesia, and Mainland Southeast Asia), Papua New Guinea, the Solomon Islands, and northern Australia. It is absent in Peninsular Malaysia and rare in Borneo. It is cultivated in South Asia, southern China, Southeast Asia, Polynesia, Cuba, Honduras, and Florida. It grows in rainforests and semi-evergreen tropical forests.
The fruits are edible raw. Bunches of ripe fruits are commonly sold in Indonesia from trees grown in rural villages. In the Philippines, its fruits are made into bignay wine, jams (alone or in combination with other fruits), desserts, and drinks. Unripe sour fruits are also sometimes used as a substitute for tomatoes or vinegar in some dishes in Filipino cuisine. The tender young leaves are sometimes eaten with rice in Indonesia and the Philippines, and the leaf shoots are used to make tea in China.
[Contains information from Leaf Area Index (LAI) and Heritage Trees from data.gov.sg (National Parks Board), made available under the terms of the Singapore Open Data Licence version 1.0]
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Antidesma bunius by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0; the excerpts and the care summary drawn from them are shared under the same licence.
The care summary was written by AI (Claude, Anthropic) from the sources on this page, with general growing knowledge where they are silent. Check before relying on it.
Life form, climate and native range: World Checklist of Vascular Plants, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (CC BY 3.0), reformatted; see Plants of the World Online.
