Sign Up    |     Login    |     Take a Tour    |     Need Help?

Euphorbiaceae Phyllanthus acidus (L.) Skeels

| | © W.D. Hawthorne

Other images of the same specimen :

| 1 | 2 | 3 |

Keywords in this picture :

Places where this species can be found :

Species information

Description
Lvs glabrous, Branches like pinnate leaves, to c. 50cm long with 25-40 lvs.

Interest
Phyllanthus means leaf flower; as some species (eg P.epiphyllanthus) have falttened leaf- like branches, as if a leaf bearing flowers around the edge. In grenada, a cooling tea is made from the leaves, and used as a mouthwash to treat sore throats (Politi, 1996). The small, yellow, sour, single seeded fruit is sometimes eaten fresh but its most commonly used for making a sweet stew, dried fruit or red dried fruit. CANDIED DAMSON 2 Kg Damson (seeds optional) 2 Kg sugar 1.0 g Red Food colour (optional) 5 g Citric Acid 4.5 Kg water Salt 10 g to taste Spices (Cinnamon, clove, bay leaf) Black pepper (optional) Method 1. Blanch for 2 minutes 2. Cool 3. Prepare a syrup using the sugar and water. Add spices, salt and/or black pepper and/or colouring 4. Cook damson in syrup 5. Add citric acid or lime juice 6. Wash damson (deseed if desired) 7. Transfer to a clean sterilized bucket or container. 8. Let damson stand in syrup for 4-5 days. 9. Drain from syrup. Dry if desired.

Specimen information

Collector
W.D. Hawthorne, D.Jules

Specimen Number
957

Location
Road to and just south of Prospect. Wooded vegetation with Coccoloba coronata, Andira inermis, Lonchocarpus violaceus (abnudant) , Erythroxylum havanense, Manilkara bidentata, Piper, Flemingia, Cecropia, Albizia (Samanea) saman, mangoes, Spondias mombin.

Notes
12cm DBH tree with pale stems. Young leaves reddish, v. like cpd leaves. Fts white to 1.5cm, tasting very like rhubarb.

Coordinates
Latitude: 12.130000 N   Longitude: 61.390000 W   Altitude: 40