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Aleurites moluccanus

Candlenut
Starr 020803-0119 Aleurites moluccana.jpg
Candlenut foliage, flowers, and nut
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae
(unranked): Angiosperms
(unranked): Eudicots
(unranked): Rosids
Order: Malpighiales
Family: Euphorbiaceae
Subfamily: Crotonoideae
Tribe: Aleuritideae
Genus: Aleurites
Species: A. moluccanus
Binomial name
Aleurites moluccanus
(L.) Willd.
Synonyms

Aleurites javanicus Gand.
Aleurites moluccana
Aleurites pentaphyllus Wall. ex Langeron
Aleurites remyi Sherff
Aleurites trilobus J.R.Forst. & G.Forst.
Jatropha moluccana L.


Aleurites javanicus Gand.
Aleurites moluccana
Aleurites pentaphyllus Wall. ex Langeron
Aleurites remyi Sherff
Aleurites trilobus J.R.Forst. & G.Forst.
Jatropha moluccana L.

Aleurites moluccanus (or moluccana), the candlenut, is a flowering tree in the spurge family, Euphorbiaceae, also known as candleberry, Indian walnut, kemiri, varnish tree, nuez de la India, buah keras, or kukui nut tree.

Its native range is impossible to establish precisely because of early spread by humans, and the tree is now distributed throughout the New and Old World tropics. It grows to a height of 15–25 m (49–82 ft), with wide spreading or pendulous branches. The leaves are pale green, simple, and ovate, or trilobed or rarely five-lobed, with an acute apex, 10–20 cm (3.9–7.9 in) long. The nut is round, 4–6 cm (1.6–2.4 in) in diameter; the seed inside has a very hard seed coat and a high oil content, which allows its use as a candle (see below), hence its name.

The nut is often used cooked in Indonesian and Malaysian cuisine, where it is called kemiri in Indonesian or buah keras in Malay. On the island of Java in Indonesia, it is used to make a thick sauce that is eaten with vegetables and rice.

In the Philippines, the fruit and tree are traditionally known as lumbang after which Lumban, a lakeshore town in Laguna is named. Before the intrusion of non-native species, it was frequently used as a property-line manager, because the its silvery underleaf made the tree easy to distinguish from a distance.


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Wikipedia

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