Vutu kana, Cut nut
Barringtonia edulis

Family: Lecythidaceae

What it is like

A small tree. It grows up to 15 m high. The trunk is 30 to 40 cm across. The bark is smooth and greyish brown. The leaves are glossy on both sides and are large. They are 17 to 45 cm long by 10 to 20 cm across. They are wedge shaped near the base, and wavy or with rounded edges, near the tip. The midrib and veins are raised on both leaf surfaces. The leaf stalk is about 1 cm long and there are 15 to 20 pairs of veins. This nut tree has flowers with stalks from a single unbranched stalk. These flower and nut stalks come from the end of the branch and hang down. The flower stalk can be up to 50 cm long and have about 40 flowers and nuts. The fruit can be 4 or 5 cm long and 2 cm across and when ripe the fruit skin colour is green. The seed kernel inside the hard shell can be 3 cm by 1 cm in size. This species is very similar to Barringtonia procera but this one has leaves with leaf stalks, the flowers are on stalks, the fruit is green when fresh and the fruit is more smooth and egg shaped.

There are about 40 Barringtonia species.

Where it is found

A tropical plant. This species mainly occurs in Fiji. Other similar species occur in Solomon Islands, Papua New Guinea and other Pacific countries. It occurs in forest, woodland and grassland up to 400 m above sea level.

Countries/locations it is found in

Asia, Australia, Cook Islands, Fiji, Indonesia, Pacific (country/location of origin), Papua New Guinea, Rotuma, SE Asia, Society Islands, Solomon Islands, Vanuatu, Wallis & Futuna

How it is used for food

Other Barringtonia species are important nuts in Papua New Guinea.

Edible parts

Nuts

How it is grown

The flowering and fruiting is mostly just before Christmas, from September to December.

Its other names

Local names

Huel, Hufa'a, Katnut, Nevingen, Tchubo, Tubou, Uel, Vala, Vel, Vele, Velingeh, Vutu, Vutu kana, Vutu kata, Vutu ni veikau, Wan vel

Synonyms

Butonica edulis (Seem.) Miers; Huttum edule (Seem.) Britten;