Rambutan
Nephelium lappaceum

Family: Sapindaceae

What it is like

A medium sized tree up to 12-25 m high. It keeps its leaves throughout the year. Trees spread to 6 m wide. The leaves are alternate with leaflets opposite along the stalk. There are 5-7 pairs of leaflets. Each leaflet can be 20 cm long by 8 cm wide. The leaflet stalks are short and the leaflets are pointed at the tip and rounded at the base. The flowers are very numerous on compound flower arrangements. Seedling trees can produce only female or only male trees. Some kinds have both male and female flowers or both flower parts in the one flower. The fruit are dark red with many prominent projections united at the base. The colour can vary between yellow, green, orange and bright red. Sometimes trees are separately male and female and sometimes seedless fruit is set. Often male and female flowers are separate but on the same tree. The fruit hang in loose clusters of 10-12 and are up to 5 cm long. Normally each fruit contains one large seed. There are several named cultivated varieties.

Demo

Where it is found

A tropical plant. It suits the humid tropical lowlands. It is native to Malaysia. It requires a moist hot climate mostly within 12° of the equator. They extend from sea level up to altitudes of about 500 m in equatorial zones and will grow about 17° from the equator. They do best where the temperature is constant around 28°C or range from 22-30°C and rainfall of 2000 to 5000 mm per year. Low humidity can cause scorching of leaves. Excessive rainfall before flower formation reduces flowering. A dry period of about one month assists flower initiation and areas with two seasonal dry periods can get double crops. A well drained soil is needed. It is best with a pH between 4.5-6.5. In XTBG Yunnan. It suits hardiness zones 11-12.

Countries/locations it is found in

Africa, Andamans, Asia, Australia, Bougainville, Brazil, Brunei, Cambodia, Cameroon, Central Africa, Central America, China, Colombia, Congo DR, Cook Islands, Costa Rica, Cuba, East Africa, East Timor, Ecuador, Fiji, FSM, Ghana, Guam, Guiana, Hawaii, Honduras, India, Indochina, Indonesia (country/location of origin), Laos, Liberia, Madagascar, Malaysia (country/location of origin), Mexico, Myanmar, Northeastern India, Pacific, Palau, Panama, Papua New Guinea, Philippines, Pohnpei, SE Asia, Seychelles, Singapore, Solomon Islands, South America, Sri Lanka, Suriname, Tanzania, Thailand, Timor-Leste, USA, Vietnam, West Africa, West Indies, West Papua

How it is used for food

The fruit are eaten fresh. More sour fruit are eaten stewed. The seeds are sometimes roasted and eaten. The seed can be used for oil. Fruit are available in cans and frozen.

It is an important fruit tree in SE Asia. It is cultivated. Trees have been planted in several coastal areas of Papua New Guinea and produce well.

Edible parts

Fruit, seeds

How it is grown

Trees can be grown from fresh seeds. The seeds are short lived so need to be planted fresh, after washing. Germination takes place in 7-10 days. Seedlings are not easy to transplant. Roots are very sensitive to drying out. Selected trees can be propagated by budding, grafting or air-layering. Seedling trees vary considerably in quality due to cross pollination. Trees are planted 10 m apart. Planting densities of 80-120 trees per hectare occur. About 1% male flowers are sufficient if enough pollinating insects are present. Some kinds need to have varieties mixed in the garden to get good fruit set. Twice yearly applications of organic manure are often used.

Seedling trees can start to bear after 6 years and vegetative trees after 4 years. Fruiting is seasonal. Flowering occurs during the dry season. The main fruit season is November to March. Fruit mature about 110 days after flowering. Where trees with only female flowers occur, male pollinator trees are needed. Fruit can weigh 20 to 40 g each. Fruit need to be harvested when ripe. A well maintained tree can produce 150 kg of fruit.

Its other names

Local names

Amaw, Arem litchi, Chom chom, Gente, Gerat, Haicha, Hairy litchi, Hong mao dan, Kakapas, Kyetmauk, Legos, Mamon chino, Nefelio, Nerat, Ngoh, Ngork, Phruan, Poilus, Ramboetan, Ramboostan, Rambosteen, Rambotan, Ramboutanier, Rambutan hutan, Rambutan usan, Rambutao, Ramtum, Ranbuutan, Saaw maaw, Saw maw, Ser mon, Suligrie, Tangoi, Tangui, Usan, Usau, Vai thieu

Synonyms

Euphoria glabra Blume; Euphoria nephelium DC; Euphoria nephelium Poir.; Euphoria ramb-outan Labill.; Litchi ramboutan Labill.; Nephelium chryseum Blume; Nephelium glabrum Cambess.; Nephelium glabrum var. sufferrugineum (Radlk.) Ridl.; Nephelium glabrum Norona; Nephelium glabrum Reinw. ex Blume; Nephelium lappaceum var. glabrum Blume; Nephelium maculatum Radlk.; Nephelium mutabile var. pallens Hiern; Nephelium obovatum Ridl.; Nephelium pallens (Hiern) Radlk.; Nephelium rambutan Schnizl.; Nephelium sufferrugineum Radlk.; Nephelium xanthoides Radlk.;