金龜樹

植物簡介

It is tree, up to 15 m tall, single or multiple trunks with dense bushy crown. Trunk become gnarled with age and twigs have a pair of sharp spines at the base of the leaf stalks which are modified from stipules. Leaf is bipinnate, comprises of 2 pinnae and each pinnae has 2 leaflets. Leaflet is elliptic to obovate-elliptic (2 – 5 cm long and 0.2 – 2.5 cm wide) with rounded to heart-shaped tip and unequal base. Circular gland is present at the junction between the pinnae and leaflets. Flower is small, cream-white coloured and occurs in groups of 8 – 20, which resembles a round head. Fruit is spirally coiled into a circle (about 5 – 7 cm diameter), ripening from green to red or brown and splits open along both edges to reveal 5 – 9 seeds within. Seed is glossy black, oval-elliptical (0.9 – 1.2 cm long and 0.7 cm wide) with fleshy white or pinkish edible aril, covering the lower half of the seed.