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.
Mallotus philippensis
Also called Orange Kamala, Red Kamala
Mallotus philippensis, the kamala tree, is a species of spurge family tree or large shrub native to tropical and subtropical Asia and northern and eastern Australia. It is grown mainly for its red fruit coating, a dye source, and it thrives in warm, humid, frost-free conditions.
Mallotus philippensis is a plant in the spurge family. It is known as the kamala tree or red kamala or kumkum tree, due to the fruit covering, which produces a red dye. However, it must be distinguished from kamala meaning "lotus" in many Indian languages, an unrelated plant, flower, and sometimes metonymic spiritual or artistic concept. Mallotus philippensis has many other local names. This kamala often appears in rainforest margins. Or in disturbed areas free from fire, in moderate to high rainfall areas.
It occurs in South Asia, Southeast Asia, as well as Afghanistan and Australia. The southernmost limit of natural distribution is Mount Keira, south of Sydney. The species name refers to the type specimen being collected in the Philippines, where it is known as banato.
Mallotus philippensis is used to produce yellow dye and herbal remedies. It produces rottlerin, a potent large conductance potassium channel opener.
Green Kamala · White Kamala · False White Teak · Turn In The Wind
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Mallotus philippensis 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.
