Kaunithina
Canarium vitiense

Family: Burseraceae

What it is like

A tree up to 25 m high. It sometimes has small buttresses. The trunk can be 30-40 cm across. The small branches are slender. On the leaf stalk there is a leafy structure called a stipule which is 3 cm from the base of the stalk. It is thread like. The leaves have 3-6 pairs of leaflets and can be softly hairy. The leaflets are oval and 12-20 cm long by 5-7 cm wide. There are 11-20 pairs of veins in the leaflets and continuing fairly straight towards the edges of the leaves. The flower clusters occur in the axils of leaves. They are 12-22 cm long. There can be up to 9 flowers. The flower buds are greenish white and the petals are white or cream. The fruiting clusters are up to 10 cm long with 1-3 fruit in a cluster. There is a saucer like structure (calyx) around the base of the fruit. The young fruit are green or bluish. They become dark purple black at maturity. The fruit are long and slightly triangular in cross section. They are 4 cm long by 2 cm across. The stone of the fruit has 6 ribs. There are 1-2 seeds inside. The seeds are edible.

There are 80-95 Canarium species.

Where it is found

A tropical plant. It occurs in dense or dry forest. It grows from sea level to 1,000 m altitude. In Samoa it grows from sea level to 700 m altitude. A small understory tree in lowland and foothill rainforests. It is recorded from Morobe Province and New Britain as well as Malaysia. It grows up to 250 m altitude.

Countries/locations it is found in

American Samoa, Asia, Australia, Fiji, Malaysia, Pacific, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, SE Asia, Solomon Islands, Tonga, Vanuatu

How it is used for food

The seeds have been recorded as edible.

This species has been recorded as having edible seeds. Its potential is not known, but it is only a minor food.

Edible parts

Seeds, nuts

How it is grown

The tree grows wild from seeds.

Trees flower and fruit throughout the year. The flowers are recorded in June, August and November. The fruit are recorded in March and May to September.

Its other names

Local names

Angari, Aropir, Banaga, Bitung, Didi, Kauloa, Kauningai, Ma'ali, Mbulundavui, Ndawandawa, Ndindi, Nggaunggau

Synonyms

Canarium bacciferum Leenh.; Canarium samoense Engl.; Canarium schlechteri Lauterb.; Canarium smithii Leenh.; Canarium pilosum subsp. pilosum sensu Leenh.; Canarium gutur de Miklouho-Maclay;