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Dillenia philippinensis
Also called Elephant Apple
Katmon (Dillenia philippinensis) is a medium-sized evergreen tree from the Philippines, grown mainly for urban greening and its large white flowers and edible fruit. It does best in warm, humid lowland conditions and cannot tolerate cold upland climates.
Dillenia philippinensis (katmon) is a species of flowering plant in the family Dillenaceae. It is endemic to the Philippines and can be used for urban greening. Its fruit is known as elephant apple. Katmon grows in low to medium altitude forests throughout the Philippines, but does not survive the cold climates of the uplands.
Katmon is featured on the reverse side of the Philippine twenty-five centavo coin since 2018 as part of the New Generation Currency Coin Series.
The fruit, called "elephant apple", has a diameter that is around five to six centimeters. It contains a soft, fleshy, green, and edible pulp with a flavor similar to a sour green apple. It is used to make sauces, jams, and flavoring for fish. The fruit's acid is mixed with sugar to make a traditional cure for cough. It is also used to clean the hair.
Red beech · Chulta · Hargoza · Dillenia reticulata · Dillenia retusa · Dillenia scabrella · Dillenia serrata · Shrubby Dillenia · Dillenia triquetra · Dillenia
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Dillenia philippinensis 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.
