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Phyllanthus emblica
Phyllanthaceae FAMILY Least Concern

Phyllanthus emblica

Phyllanthus emblica

Edibility
3/5
Medicinal
5/5

Safety & Hazards

None known

Cultivation Details

HabitDeciduous Shrub
GrowthSlow

Phyllanthus emblica is a plant mainly of the hot, tropical lowlands, succeeding in both humid and semi-arid areas[1, 2]. It can also be found at elevations up to 2,300 metres in southern China. It grows best in areas where annual daytime temperatures are within the range 20 - 29°c, but can tolerate 14 - 35°c[3]. It prefers a mean annual rainfall in the range 1,500 - 2,500mm, but tolerates 700 - 4,200mm[3]. Emblic is a very easily grown plant, reported to thrive in regions that are too dry and on soil that is too poor for most other fruit crops[4]. Requires a position in full sun or part day shade, but is undemanding as to soil requirements so long as it is well-drained[1, 4]. It can even succeed on alkaline soils, though in a highly alkaline soil (pH 8.0) nutritional deficiencies are evident[4]. For maximum productivity, the tree requires deep soil ranging from sandy loam to clay, light or heavy, and slightly acidic to slightly alkaline[4]. Plants seem to grow equally well under both arid and humid conditions[4]. Prefers a pH in the range 6 - 8, tolerating 5 - 8[3]. The tree is rather slow-growing and usually only bears fruit when 6 - 8 years old[3]. Seedlings take about 10 years to come into bearing[4]. The plant only produces flowers at a daylength between 12 - 13.5 hours[3]. Annual fruit yields may be about 15 - 25 kilos per tree[3]. Mature plants can yield 200 kilos of fruit per year[4]. Ripe fruits may be retained for several months on the tree without significant loss of quality. Because of this, a long period is available for picking the fruits for consumption[5]. The tree coppices well and pollards fairly well[5]. Coppiced shoots grow particularly vigorously, and coppicing is considered the system most suitable for the production and collection of tanbark on a commercial scale[5]. Usually plantations need much weeding because the thin crowns do not form a closed canopy[5]. There are some named varieties[6]. Emblic is fire resistant, and is one of the first trees to recover after a fire[5, 3]. Plants are usually monoecious, but occasional dioecious forms are found.

Propagation

Seed - it does not store well and so is best sown as soon as it is ripe[7]. The seed is taken from over-ripe fruits, which are sun dried to facilitate removal of the stone, or are cut in half right through the stone. The extracted seeds are given the float test and 100% of those that sink will germinate. In 4 months, seedlings will have a stem diameter of 8 mm and can be budded or grafted if required[4]. Semi-hardwood cuttings, collected from the middle portions of vigorous shoots of young trees and planted in beds at a temperature of about 33°c, produce a high percentage of rooting, up to 84%[5]. Greenwood cuttings. Layering. Grafting. Cite as: Tropical Plants Database, Ken Fern. tropical.theferns.info. 2026-02-20. <tropical.theferns.info/viewtropical.php?id=Phyllanthus+emblica>

Pollinators

Bees

References

  1. [1]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.
  2. [2]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.
  3. [3]Ecocrop — http://ecocrop.fao.org/ecocrop/srv/en/home ↩︎Basic information on a wide range of useful plants, plus details of environmental needs where available.
  4. [4]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.
  5. [5]Protabase - Plant Resources of Tropical Africa. — http://www.prota.org ↩︎An excellent on-line database with detailed information on over 3,200 species of useful plants of Africa.
  6. [6]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.
  7. [7]World Agroforesty Centre — http://www.worldagroforestry.org/ ↩︎An excellent online database of a huge range of trees giving very good information on each plant - its uses, ecology, identity, propagation, pests etc.
  8. [8]IUCN Red List of Threatened Species — http://www.iucnredlist.org/ ↩︎A list of plants under threat and facing possible extinction, usually with brief details of the threats and information on habitat.
  9. [9]Forest Restoration Planting in Northern Thailand — Pakkad G.; Elliott S.; Anusarnsunthorn V. Et al · Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations; Bangkok · 2002 · http://www.fao.org/ ↩︎A report on reforestation in northern Thailand by using specific pioneer species. It can be downloaded from the Internet.
  10. [10]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.
  11. [11]Flora of China — Missouri Botanical Garden Press; St. Louis. · 1994 · http://flora.huh.harvard.edu/china/ ↩︎An excellent, comprehensive resource in 25 volumes. In addition to the botanical information the flora also gives basic information on habitat and some uses. An on-line version is also available.
  12. [12]Edible Leaves of the Tropics — Martin. F. W.; Ruberte. R. M. & Meitzner. L. S. · Echo. USA. · 1998 · ISBN 0-9653360-1-8 ↩︎A terse guide, giving reasonable detail on the more common leaf crops and brief information on a wide range of lesser known plants.
  13. [13]The Encyclopedia of Medicinal Plants — Chevallier. A. · Dorling Kindersley. London · 1996 · ISBN 9-780751-303148 ↩︎An excellent guide to over 500 of the more well known medicinal herbs from around the world.
  14. [14]Encyclopaedia of Herbs and their Uses. — Bown. D. · Dorling Kindersley, London. · 1995 · ISBN 0-7513-020-31 ↩︎A very well presented and informative book on herbs from around the globe. Plenty in it for both the casual reader and the serious student. Just one main quibble is the silly way of having two separate entries for each plant.
  15. [15]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.
  16. [16]Plants and People of Nepal — Manandhar. N. P. · Timber Press. Oregon. · 2002 · ISBN 0-88192-527-6 ↩︎Excellent book, covering over 1,500 species of useful plants from Nepal together with information on the geography and peoples of Nepal. Good descriptions of the plants with terse notes on their uses.