Cape York cedar, Pacific maple
Aglaia spectabilis

Family: Meliaceae

What it is like

A tree that grows 25-30 m tall. It has buttresses. The twigs have dense brown scales. The leaves are compound. They are 20-70 cm long. There are 11-21 pairs of leaflets. The tertiary veins are prominent. The leaflets have few scales underneath except on the midrib. The leaflets are 8-40 cm long by 3-17 cm wide. The flowers occur in a group. The flowers have 3 white petals. They are 2-7 mm long. The fruit is a capsule. It is yellowish-brown and 6-8 cm long by 5.5-8 cm wide. It is densely covered with hairs. There are 1-3 brown seeds.

There are about 104 Aglaia species. They occur in Asia and the Pacific.

Where it is found

A tropical plant. In southern China it grows in dense forests between 900-1,800 m above sea level. In Yunnan.

Countries/locations it is found in

Asia, Australia, Bhutan, Cambodia, China, Himalayas, India, Indochina, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Pacific, Papua New Guinea, Philippines, SE Asia, Sikkim, Solomon Islands, Thailand, Vietnam

How it is used for food

The fruit are edible. The bark is used for tea.

Edible parts

Fruit, seeds - oil, bark - tea

How it is grown

Plants are grown from fresh seed.

Its other names

Local names

Amoor, Bang kew damrei, Enggoha, Goi nep, Hgaling, Lali, Lantupak, Merasam, Nook kok, Yatok

Synonyms

Aglaia gigantea (Pierre) Pellegr.; Aglaia ridleyi (King) Pannell; Amoora gigantea Pierre; Amoora ridleyi King; Amoora spectabilis Miq.; Amoora wallichii King; Aphanamixis wallichii (King) Harid. & R. R. Rao; Sphaerosacme spectabilis Royle; ?