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Barringtonia edulis
Also called Vutu Kana
In Singapore: Cutnut (Grown in Singapore)
Cutnut is a large evergreen tree from coastal humid forests of Fiji and Vanuatu, grown for its glossy leaves and edible fruit and seeds. It is a wet tropical tree best suited to warm, humid, frost-free conditions.
Barringtonia edulis is a species of tree with edible fruits from the southwestern Pacific region, being found on Fiji and Vanuatu. Common names include cut nut, pao nut, boxfruit tree, heart tree, and yum-yum tree. It was first described in 1866 by Berthold Carl Seeman.
In Fiji, it is known as vutu (term also used for Barringtonia asiatica), vutukala, kutuvala and vana.
Barringtonia edulis is endemic to Fiji and Vanuatu. It grows in humid forests near the coast, at altitudes below 400 m (1,300 ft). It also occurs beside roads and footpaths and near habitations, and is cultivated in gardens for its attractive glossy foliage and edible fruits.
The fruits are eaten, raw or cooked, but are said to be insipid. The seeds are also edible, the flavour resembling peanuts. The bark is used in traditional medicine, to treat stomach problems and gonorrhoea, and to induce an abortion. The wood is light and makes fast-burning firewood. The timber is used for light construction, casing and for making canoe paddles.
Freshwater mangrove · Sea putat · Corned Beef Wood · Barringtonia macrostachya · Freshwater mangrove
[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 Barringtonia edulis 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.
