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Dialium indum
Fabaceae FAMILY

Dialium indum

Dialium indum

Edibility
3/5
Medicinal
0/5

Safety & Hazards

None known

Cultivation Details

HabitEvergreen Tree
Growth—

A plant of hot, wet, tropical climates[1]. The tree is well adapted to tropical regions, especially in monsoon areas where the soil is well drained[2]. The tree seems to tolerate good as well as poor soil[2]. The tree tends to be fairly shade tolerant, especially when smaller[2]. Trees can be slow coming into bearing, with local farmers saying 15 - 17 years[2]. One tree is known to have taken over 40 years, whilst two others that were planted in the nitrogen-rich soil near an outdoor toilet commenced bearing when only 5 years old[2]. This species has a symbiotic relationship with certain soil bacteria, these bacteria form nodules on the roots and fix atmospheric nitrogen. Some of this nitrogen is utilized by the growing plant but some can also be used by other plants growing nearby[3].

Propagation

Seed - Cite as: Tropical Plants Database, Ken Fern. tropical.theferns.info. 2026-02-20. <tropical.theferns.info/viewtropical.php?id=Dialium+indum>

Pollinators

Data unavailable

References

  1. [1]Perennial Edible Fruits of the Tropics : an Inventory — Martin, F. W.; Campbell, C. W.; Rubertbe, R. M. · U.S. Dept. of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service · 1987 ↩︎A booklet giving terse details of almost 300 species of edible fruits, plus regional lists of Botanical and Common names for over 2,500 less well-known edible fruits of the tropics.
  2. [2]Under-Utilized Tropical Fruits of Thailand. RAP — Suranant Subhadrabandhu · F. A. O., The United Nations, Bangkok. · 2001 · http://www.fao.org/3/a-ab777e.pdf ↩︎A detailed report on 35 fruit species that could have potential for increased production in Thailand. The report can be downloadd as a PDF from the internet.
  3. [3]The New RHS Dictionary of Gardening. 1992. — Huxley. A. · MacMillan Press · 1992 · ISBN 0-333-47494-5 ↩︎Excellent and very comprehensive, though it contains a number of silly mistakes. Readable yet also very detailed.
  4. [4]Flora Malesiana Series 1 — Various · Nationaal Herbarium Nederiand, Universiteit Leiden branch · http://www.archive.org ↩︎A massive treatment of the plants of the Malaysian Archipelago. Much of it has been made available to download from the Internet
  5. [5]Cornucopia II — Facciola. S. · Kampong Publications, California. · 1998 · ISBN 0-9628087-2-5 ↩︎The second edition of an excellent guide to the edible uses of plants, though it does not give any details of cultivation etc.
  6. [6]Tropical and Subtropical Trees - A Worldwide Encyclopaedic Guide. — Barwick. M. · Thames & Hudson, London · 2004 · ISBN 0-500-51181-0 ↩︎A superb book, very concise and well written, giving a wealth of information on 400 or more species including descriptions, habitat, cultivation details and plant uses. A wealth of colour photographs bring each plant vividly to life.
  7. [7]Plants of Southeast Asia — http://www.asianplant.net/ ↩︎Excellent site with brief information on the plant, its range, habitat and uses, plus phots of specimens, close-ops of flowers and leaves etc,
  8. [8]Dictionary of Economic Plants. — Uphof. J. C. Th. · Weinheim · 1959 · ISBN - ↩︎An excellent and very comprehensive guide but it only gives very short descriptions of the uses without any details of how to utilize the plants. Not for the casual reader.
  9. [9]Timber Notes - Heavy Hardwoods II (Kekatong, Keranji, Merbau, Penaga, Resak) — Choo K.T.; Lim S.C.; Gan K.S. · Forest Research Institute; Malaysia · 1999 · http://info.frim.gov.my/cfdocs/infocenter/booksonline/index.cfm?menu=ttb · ISBN 139-258 ↩︎The properties of several Maleysian timbers. It can be downloaded from the Internet.