The open plant encyclopedia
Snap a photo or search by any name to see how to care for it, where it comes from, whether it's safe, and a 3D model you can turn.
The plants people record most in your country, and ones that grow there wild.
Filter by what you want to do, shape, origin, country, care and safety.
Antidesma ghaesembilla
Antidesma ghaesembilla is a species of plant in the Phyllanthaceae family. It is native to an area from northern Australia to the Philippines, China, and west to India.
The shrub or tree usually grows in moist soils in plant communities ranging from savannah to gallery forest to closed forest. It is associated with a number of species of fungus, insects and animals, including emus. Amongst the Mangarrayi and Yangman people of north Australia, the sweet ripe fruit of the tree are much appreciated and linked to the build-up season and to the koel. As well as food, the plant is used as a calendar-plant, for dyeing, in traditional medicine, in religious/magical practices, as fuel, and as an insecticide.
The species is native to an area from northern Australia and New Guinea to tropical and Subtropical Asia, as far as the West Himalaya region and Southeast China. Countries and regions that it grows in include: Australia ({Queensland: Northeast and Cape York}, Northern Territory, {Western Australia: Kimberley}); Papua Niugini (including Bismarck Archipelago); Indonesia (West Papua, Maluku, Lesser Sunda Islands, Sulawesi, Kalimantan, Jawa, Sumatera); Philippines; Malaysia (Sabah, Sarawak, Peninsular Malaysia); Thailand; Cambodia; Vietnam; China (Guangdong, Guangxi, Hainan, Yunnan); Laos; Myanmar; India (including Andaman Islands, Nicobar Islands, Assam); Bangladesh; East Himalaya; Nepal; Sri Lanka; West Himalaya. The plant is introduced/naturalised in Guyana.
In Australia, children eat the quite acidic fruit. When ripe it is dark purple and very high in Vitamin C.
Antidesma acidum · Antidesma alexiteria · Bignay · Antidesma cruciforme · Dense Flowered China Laurel · Antidesma jayasuriyae · Antidesma montanum · Ha'a · Antidesma puncticulatum · Antidesma pyrifolium · Antidesma tomentosum · Tassel Berry
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Antidesma ghaesembilla by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0; the excerpts are shared under the same licence.
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.
