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Canarium ovatum
Also called Pilinut
Pili nut (Canarium ovatum) is a tall evergreen tree native to the Philippines, grown mainly for its edible kernels. It needs a warm, frost-free tropical climate and fertile, well drained soil.
Canarium ovatum, the pili (Central Bikol and Filipino: pili, PEE-lee;), is a species of tropical tree belonging to the genus Canarium. It is one of approximately 600 species in the family Burseraceae. C. ovatum are native to the Philippines. They are commercially cultivated in the Philippines for their edible nuts and are believed to be indigenous to that country. The fruit and tree are often vulgarized with the umbrella term of "Java almond" which mixes multiple species of the same genus, Canarium.
In the Philippines, production centers are located in the Bicol region, provinces of Sorsogon, Albay, and Camarines Sur, southern Tagalog, and eastern Visayas. The species is considered a flagship commodity of the Bicol region, the primary location of the pili nut trade. There is almost no commercial planting of this crop; fruits are collected from natural stands in the mountains near these provinces. In 1977, the Philippines exported approximately 3.8 t of pili preparation to Guam and Australia.
C. ovatum's distribution range is the Philippines.
The young shoots and the fruit pulp are edible. The shoots are used in salads, and the pulp is eaten after it is boiled and seasoned. Boiled pili pulp resembles the sweet potato in texture; it is oily (about 12%) and is considered to have food value similar to the avocado. Pulp oil can be extracted and used for cooking or as a substitute for cottonseed oil in the manufacture of soap and edible products. The stony shells are excellent as fuel or as porous, inert growth media for orchids and anthurium.
Java almond · Elemi tree · Canarium pseudodecumanum · Java Almond
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Canarium ovatum 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.
