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Pittosporum resiniferum
Also called Petroleum Nut
Pittosporum resiniferum is a wet-tropical tree or hemiepiphytic shrub from Borneo and the Philippines, grown mostly as a forest or landscape tree rather than a houseplant. Its key feature is resinous, oily fruit used locally as torches and as a biofuel source.
Pittosporum resiniferum, the resin cheesewood or petroleum nut, is a tree that grows in the Philippines and Malaysia, particularly in the wilderness surrounding the Mayon Volcano and in the Cordillera of the Philippines and Mount Kinabalu of Sabah, Malaysia. The petroleum nut derives its name from the resemblance of the fruit's odor to petroleum-based fuels. The fruits of the tree burn brightly when ignited, and can be used for illumination as torches or candles. Its fruit is also highly suitable for use in producing biofuel. This use has been encouraged by the Philippines Department of Agrarian Reform and the Philippine Coconut Authority.
In the Philippine Cordilleras petroleum nut is locally known as apisang, abkel, abkol and da-il, is found among other trees like oak and other mossy forest species. It can also grow well with pine trees.
Weeping Pittosporum · Stiffleaf cheesewood · Lemonwood · Rusty Pittosporum · Desert Willow · Tawhiwhi · Japanese cheesewood · Australian cheesewood · Cheesewood
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Pittosporum resiniferum 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.
