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Pometia pinnata
Sapindaceae FAMILY

Pometia pinnata

Pometia pinnata

Edibility
3/5
Medicinal
2/5

Safety & Hazards

None known

Cultivation Details

HabitEvergreen Tree
GrowthFast

A plant of the lowland humid tropics, it is usually found at elevations below 500 metres, though is occasionally found as high as 1,700 metres[1]. In its native range it succeeds with a mean annual rainfall in the range 1,500 - 5,000mm, without a severe dry season[1]. The mean annual temperature ranges between 22 - 28°c, the mean maximum being 25 - 32°c and the minimum tolerated 5 - 16°c[1]. Prefers a deep, rich, moist soil and a position in full sun or light shade[2]. The tree is found on a variety of soils in its native range:- on limestone, clayey, sandy or loamy soils, mostly in dryland forest, occasionally in freshwater swamps[1]. A very fast growing tree with height increases of 1.7 metres being recorded for one year[2]. There is at least one named variety[3].

Propagation

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

Pollinators

Data unavailable

References

  1. [1]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.
  2. [2]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.
  3. [3]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.
  4. [4]Medicinal Plants in the South Pacific — WHO Regional Publications, Manilla. · 1998 · ISBN 92-9061-118-9 ↩︎Excellent guide to 102 medicinal herbs of the Pacific Islands, with photographs of each plant and details of their constituents, biological activities and traditional uses. A description of each plant, together with habitat and distribution is given.
  5. [5]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.
  6. [6]Medicinal Plants in Papua New Guinea — World Health Organisation · 2009 · ISBN 978-92-9061-249-0 ↩︎Traditional medicinal uses of 126 species from Papua New Guinea, including information on modern research into the plants.
  7. [7]Agroforestry in the Pacific Islands: Systems for Sustainability — W.C. Clarke and R.R. Thaman (Editors) · United Nations University Press, Tokyo · 1993 · http://www.unu.edu/unupress/unupbooks/80824e/80824E00.htm#Contents · ISBN 92-808-0824-9 ↩︎The guide includes information on 100 species of plants for Agroforestry. It is also available on the web at the address given above.
  8. [8]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
  9. [9]Tropix 7 — CIRAD · http://tropix.cirad.fr/en ↩︎An on-line guide to the timbers of 245 species of trees.