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Sapindus rarak is a species of soapberry. It is a deciduous tree up to 42 metres (138 ft) tall native to south and east Asia (from India and Sri Lanka in the west to south China and Taiwan in the north and to Indonesia in the south). Its species name is derived from the Malaysian name rerak or rerek. In Indonesia it is commonly known as lerak or klerek.
Sapindus rarak is a timber tree but the wood is not durable. Its fruits and seeds are used as buttons and beads. In Indonesia, the fruit are used to make a traditional soap for washing clothes, especially batik. Unlike many commercial detergents, it does not cause the colours to fade.
Sapindus chrysotrichus · Sapindus drummondii · Wingleaf Soapberry · Chinese soapberry · Oʻahu soapberry · Wingleaf soapberry · Threeleaf soapberry · Soapberry
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Sapindus rarak by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0; the excerpts are shared under the same licence.
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.
