Region: east Asia, southern China, India, Myanmar, Malaysia, Laos, Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam.
Habitat: valley forests, open places, river banks; elevations of 900 - 1,500 metres; disturbed moist areas, hilly areas, moist valley slopes; best in a sunny position.
Use: fruit raw, very acid is edible, as a refreshing drink, boiled as a vegetable; timber; bark for fish poison; fruits and leaves are boiled for black dye; wood, low quality, for boxes, crates, tea boxes, furniture components, house and boat building, blockboard, fibre boards, pulp, canoes, household utensils.
BotanyEvergreen tree; 30 metres tall; fast-growing species.
Stem: scarcely buttressed; 200cm in diameter; heartwood is light yellow to light brown with light yellowish streaks, not demarcated from the sapwood, texture coarse, the grain straight or interlocked, light in weight, soft, not durable, susceptible to fungi, dry wood borers and termites, seasons rapidly, moderately stable in service when dry, easily worked with ordinary, but very sharp tools, filling is necessary in order to obtain a good finish, nailing and screwing are poor, gluing is correct.
Flowers: unpleasant odour.
Fruit: subglobose capsule; hard when matures; 3 by 5 cm in size.