ELEPHANT APPLE (Dillenia Indica)
This is a handsome spreading evergreen tree that can grow up to 15 meter tall with large lustrous leaves and showy flowers, and eye-catching fruit. In the wilds, it grows along forest streams and rivers. In Singapore, you cannot find the elephant apple growing naturally in the wilds anymore. It is however popularly planted as a shady ornamental plant in the parks and gardens. It can be found from India, Sri Lanka, China, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore and Indonesia. it is called Chalta in India and Simpoh in Malaysia. The fragrant, magnolia-like flowers are borne in terminal panicles, in spring and summer. After flowering, the petals drop and the sepals close up to form a thick, fleshy, protective covering surrounding the "true" fruit inside.The juicy acid fruit measures 10 cm or more in diameter and looks a little like an artichoke. Each fruit contains 5 seeds that are embedded in the juicy pulp.
The outer greenish yellow sepals have a tart taste, tasting like an unripe apple, and are added as a vegetable to curries and used for making jellies, cool drinks, chutneys and pickles. In the Philippines, the juice serves as vinegar. In Panama, the fruit is mixed with sugar for a refreshing "fresco".
In India, the timber is used as railway sleepers. The hard timber had also been used for building houses, ships and telegraph poles. The juicy pulp of the fruit is also used as a hair wash.
Do you know ... the reason for its name is because elephants love to eat them and used to play an important role in helping to disperse their seeds.
NOTE: The "elephant apple" name is also commonly shared with another tree called Wood Apple (Limonia Acidissima). This native of India & Sri Lanka is also much loved by elephants. The fruit is a round gray fruit the size of an apple with a hard shell and sticky brown flesh. Its Sanskrit name means "dear to monkeys". The small thorny wood apple tree grows to 9 meter high and bears large berries with a woody thick rind that is hard to crack. Inside, small white seeds are embedded in a sticky flesh. The creamy unripe flesh is used to make a sour sambal. The pectin-rich, dark chocolate pulp of fully ripened fruit is used in chutneys and for making jellies and jams.
The outer greenish yellow sepals have a tart taste, tasting like an unripe apple, and are added as a vegetable to curries and used for making jellies, cool drinks, chutneys and pickles. In the Philippines, the juice serves as vinegar. In Panama, the fruit is mixed with sugar for a refreshing "fresco".
In India, the timber is used as railway sleepers. The hard timber had also been used for building houses, ships and telegraph poles. The juicy pulp of the fruit is also used as a hair wash.
Do you know ... the reason for its name is because elephants love to eat them and used to play an important role in helping to disperse their seeds.
NOTE: The "elephant apple" name is also commonly shared with another tree called Wood Apple (Limonia Acidissima). This native of India & Sri Lanka is also much loved by elephants. The fruit is a round gray fruit the size of an apple with a hard shell and sticky brown flesh. Its Sanskrit name means "dear to monkeys". The small thorny wood apple tree grows to 9 meter high and bears large berries with a woody thick rind that is hard to crack. Inside, small white seeds are embedded in a sticky flesh. The creamy unripe flesh is used to make a sour sambal. The pectin-rich, dark chocolate pulp of fully ripened fruit is used in chutneys and for making jellies and jams.