Monodora myristica

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Monodora myristica
Curtis's Botanical Magazine, Plate 3059 (Volume 58, 1831).png
Illustration from Curtis's Botanical Magazine, 1831
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Magnoliids
Order: Magnoliales
Family: Annonaceae
Genus: Monodora
Species:
M. myristica
Binomial name
Monodora myristica
(Gaertn.) Dunal
Synonyms [2]
  • Annona myristicaGaertn.
  • Monodora borealisScott-Elliot
  • Monodora claessensiiDe Wild.
  • Monodora grandifloraBenth.

Monodora myristica, the calabash nutmeg or African nutmeg, [1] is a tropical tree of the family Annonaceae or custard apple family of flowering plants. It is native to tropical Africa from Sierra Leone in the west to Tanzania. [1] [3] In former times, its seeds were widely sold as an inexpensive nutmeg substitute. This is now less common outside its region of production. [4] Other names of calabash nutmeg include Jamaican nutmeg, ehuru, ariwo, awerewa, [5] ehiri, airama, African orchid nutmeg, muscadier de Calabash and lubushi. [4] [6]

Contents

Cultivation and history

The calabash nutmeg tree grows naturally in evergreen forests from Liberia to Nigeria and Cameroon, Ghana, Angola and also Uganda and west Kenya. [6] Due to the slave trade in the 18th century, the tree was introduced to the Caribbean islands where it was established and become known as Jamaican nutmeg. In 1897, Monodora myristica was introduced to Bogor Botanical Gardens, Indonesia, where the trees flower on a regular basis but no fruit could yet be collected. Due to its large and orchid-like flowers, the tree is also grown as an ornamental. [6]

Botany

Tree and leaves

Monodora myristica can reach a height of 35 m (115 ft) and 2 m (6 ft 7 in) in diameter at breast height (DBH). It has a clear[ clarification needed ] trunk and branches horizontally. The leaves are alternately arranged and drooping with the leaf blade being elliptical, oblong or broadest towards the apex and tapering to the stalk. They are petiolate and can reach a size of up to 45 cm × 20 cm (17.7 in × 7.9 in). [6]

Flower

The flower appears at the base of new shoots and is singular, pendant, large and fragrant. The pedicel bears a leaf-like bract and can reach 20 cm (7.9 in) in length. The flower’s sepals are red-spotted, crisped and 2.5 cm (0.98 in) long. The corolla is formed of six petals of which the three outer reach a length of 10 cm (3.9 in) and show curled margins and red, green and yellow spots. The three inner petals are almost triangular and form a white-yellowish cone which on the outside is red-spotted and green on the inside. The flower’s stigmas become receptive before its stamens mature and shed their pollen (protogynous). Its pollen is shed as permanent tetrads. [7] The flower is pollinated by insects. [6]

Fruit and seeds

Seeds Monodora myristica seeds.png
Seeds

The fruit is a berry of 20 cm (7.9 in) diameter and is smooth, green and spherical and becomes woody. It is attached to a long stalk which is up to 60 cm (24 in) long. Inside the fruit the numerous oblongoid, pale brown, 1.5 cm (0.59 in) long seeds are surrounded by a whitish fragrant pulp. The seeds contain 5-9% of a colourless essential oil. [6]

Uses

Fruit and seeds

The odour and taste of the Monodora myristica seed is similar to nutmeg and it is used as a popular spice in the West African cuisine. [4] The fruits are collected from wild trees and the seeds are dried and sold whole or ground to be used in stews, soups, cakes and desserts. [4] [6] For medicinal purposes they are used as stimulants, stomachic, for headaches, sores and also as insect repellent. The seeds are also made into necklaces. [6]

Timber and bark

Monodora myristica timber is hard but easy to work with and is used for carpentry, house fittings and joinery. In medicine, the bark is used in treatments of stomach-aches, febrile pains, eye diseases and haemorrhoids. [6]

Chemical compounds

The essential oil that can be obtained from the leaves contains β-caryophyllene, α-humulene and α-pinene. The major compounds found in the essential oil from the seeds are α-phellandrene, α-pinene, myrcene, limonene and pinene. [8]

Related Research Articles

<i>Cananga odorata</i> Species of tree

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<i>Myristica</i> Genus of trees in Myristicaceae family

Myristica is a genus of trees in the family Myristicaceae. There are over 150 species, distributed in Asia and the western Pacific.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Myristicaceae</span> Family of flowering plants

The Myristicaceae are a family of flowering plants native to Africa, Asia, Pacific islands, and the Americas and has been recognized by most taxonomists. It is sometimes called the "nutmeg family", after its most famous member, Myristica fragrans, the source of the spices nutmeg and mace. The best known genera are Myristica in Asia and Virola in the Neotropics.

<i>Monodora</i> Genus of flowering plants

Monodora is a genus of plant in family Annonaceae. It contains approximately 15 species, distributed throughout tropical Africa.

Asteranthe asterias is a species of plant in the family Annonaceae. It is native to Kenya and Tanzania. Spencer Le Marchant Moore, the English botanist who first formally described the species using the basionym Uvaria asterias, did not explicitly explain the epithet, but was likely referencing the star-like appearance of its flower’s petals.

Hexalobus bussei is a species of plant in the family Annonaceae. It is native to Cameroon. Ludwig Diels, the German botanist who first formally described the species, named it after another German botanist, Walter Busse, who collected the sample that Diels examined.

Monodora carolinae is a species of plant in the family Annonaceae. It is native to Mozambique and Tanzania. Thomas Couvreur, the botanist who first formally described the species, named it after his wife Carolina.

Monodora crispata is a species of plant in the family Annonaceae. It is native to Cameroon, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Ghana, Guinea, Ivory Coast, Liberia, Nigeria, and Sierra Leone. Heinrich Gustav Adolf Engler, the German botanist who first formally described the species, named it after its curled petal margins.

Monodora globiflora is a species of plant in the family Annonaceae. It is native to Tanzania. Thomas Couvreur, the botanist who first formally described the species, named it after its inner petals that touch one another, but are not fused, and form a globe-shaped structure.

<i>Monodora grandidieri</i> Species of plant in the family Annonaceae

Monodora grandidieri is a species of plant in the family Annonaceae. It is native to Kenya, Malawi, Mozambique, Somalia, and Tanzania. Henri Ernest Baillon, the French botanist who first formally described the species, named it after the French naturalist and explorer Alfred Grandidier who collected the specimen Baillon examined. It has been reported to be used as a traditional medicine by the Giriama and Digo people of Kenya.

<i>Monodora hastipetala</i> Species of plant in the family Annonaceae

Monodora hastipetala is a species of plant in the family Annonaceae. It is native to Tanzania. Thomas Couvreur, the botanist who first formally described the species, named it after its spear shaped inner petals.

<i>Monodora junodii</i> Species of plant in the family Annonaceae

Monodora junodii is a species of plant in the family Annonaceae. It is native to Eswatini, Kenya, Malawi, Mozambique, South Africa, Tanzania, and Zimbabwe. Heinrich Gustav Adolf Engler and Ludwig Diels, the German botanists who first formally described the species, named it after Henri-Alexandre Junod, the Swiss missionary and scientist who collected the specimen that they examined.

<i>Monodora laurentii</i> Species of plant in the family Annonaceae

Monodora laurentii is a species of plant in the family Annonaceae. It is native to the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Gabon, and the Republic of the Congo. Émile De Wildeman, the Belgian botanist who first formally described the species, named it after Marcel Laurent, the Belgian botanist who collected many plant specimens in the regions along the Congo River.

<i>Monodora minor</i> Species of plant in the family Annonaceae

Monodora minor is a species of plant in the family Annonaceae. It is native to Mozambique and Tanzania. Heinrich Gustav Adolf Engler and Ludwig Diels, the German botanists who first formally described the species, do not explicitly explain the specific epithet but it is among the smaller members of the genus which includes species that reach heights of 30-40 meters.

<i>Monodora stenopetala</i> Species of plant in the family Annonaceae

Monodora stenopetala is a species of plant in the family Annonaceae. It is native to Malawi and Mozambique. Daniel Oliver, the English botanist who first formally described the species, named it after its narrow petals.

<i>Monodora tenuifolia</i> Species of plant in the family Annonaceae

Monodora tenuifolia is a species of plant in the family Annonaceae. It is native to equatorial Africa. George Bentham, the English botanist who first formally described the species, named it after its slender leaves.

<i>Monodora undulata</i> Species of plant in the family Annonaceae

Monodora undulata is a species of plant in the family Annonaceae. It is native to Cameroon, the Central African Republic, Ghana, Guinea, Ivory Coast, Liberia, Nigeria and Sierra Leone. Palisot de Beauvois the botanist and entomologist who first formally described the species using the basionym Xylopia undulata, named it after the wavy margins of its petals.

<i>Monodora angolensis</i> Species of plant in the family Annonaceae

Monodora angolensis is a species of plant in the family Annonaceae. It is native to Angola, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Ivory Coast, Nigeria, Republic of the Congo, Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia and Zaire. Friedrich Welwitsch, the Austrian botanist who first formally described the species, named it after Angola where he found it growing near the town of Pungo-Andongo.

<i>Myristica insipida</i> Species of plant

Myristica insipida, commonly known in Australia as Australian nutmeg, Queensland nutmeg or native nutmeg, is a small rainforest tree in the family Myristicaceae native to parts of Malesia, Papuasia and Australia. It is closely related to the commercially-important species of nutmeg, M. fragrans.

<i>Uvariastrum pierreanum</i> Species of flowering plant

Uvariastrum pierreanum is a species of plant in the Annonaceae family. It is native to Cameroon, the Central African Republic, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Ghana, Guinea, the Ivory Coast, Liberia, Nigeria, Sierra Leone and the Republic of the Congo. Adolf Engler, the botanist who first formally described the species, named it after the French botanist Jean Baptiste Louis Pierre.

References

  1. 1 2 3 Cosiaux, A.; Couvreur, T.L.P. & Erkens, R.H.J. (2019). "Monodora myristica". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species . 2019: e.T132683482A133046260. Retrieved 13 November 2023.
  2. ↑ "Monodora myristica (Gaertn.) Dunal". World Checklist of Selected Plant Families . Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew . Retrieved 18 April 2017– via The Plant List. Note that this website has been superseded by World Flora Online
  3. ↑ "Monodora myristica (Gaertn.) Dunal". Plants of the World Online. The Trustees of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. n.d. Retrieved April 17, 2019.
  4. 1 2 3 4 Celtnet Recipes. "Calabash Nutmeg Information Page". Archived from the original on 16 July 2011. Retrieved 4 May 2011.
  5. ↑ Burkill, H.M. (1985). The useful plants of West tropical Africa (Ed. 2. ed.). Kew: Royal Botanic Gardens. ISBN   978-0-947643-01-0.
  6. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Weiss, E.A. (2002). Spice Crops. Oxon: CABI Publishing. pp. 102–103. ISBN   978-0-85199-605-9.
  7. ↑ Couvreur, Thomas L. P.; Botermans, Marleen; van Heuven, Bertie Joan; van der Ham, Raymond W. J. M. (2008). "Pollen morphology within the Monodora clade, a diverse group of five African Annonaceae genera". Grana. 47 (3): 185–210. doi:10.1080/00173130802256913. ISSN   0017-3134.
  8. ↑ Fournier, G.; et al. (1999). "Annonaceae essential oils: a review". Journal of Essential Oil Research. 11 (2): 131–142. doi:10.1080/10412905.1999.9701092.
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