Willughbeia sarawacensis

Willughbeia sarawacensis
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Asterids
Order: Gentianales
Family: Apocynaceae
Genus: Willughbeia
Species:
W. sarawacensis
Binomial name
Willughbeia sarawacensis

Willughbeia sarawacensis, commonly known as tabo (Philippines) and kubal or kubal madu (Malaysia), is a large tropical vine-bearing plant with edible fruit native to Palawan and to the nearby island of Borneo.[2] There are four related varieties known in Borneo: kubal asam or kubal taya, kubal tusu or kubal madu, kubal arang (all fall under Willughbeia sarawakensis), and another much bigger cousin tabau (Willughbeia elimeri).

Description

The fruit is the shape, size, and colour of a grapefruit with a thin melon-like rind and a concentrated sweet taste comparable to mango, soursop and pineapple combined. At the government experimental station near Kuching, Sarawak, they are grown on elevated platforms and said to start producing in less than two years.[citation needed] All four are round in shape except kubal tusu, which is pear-shaped. Kubal arang (charcoal) has a distinctive charcoal-coloured seed.

References

  1. ^ Willughbeia sarawacensis was originally described and published as Ancylocladus sarawacensis in Bulletin Mensuel de la Société Linnéenne de Paris n.s., 1: 96. 1898. The name Willughbeia sarawacensis was published in Die Natürlichen Pflanzenfamilien Nachtr. 2: 55. 1900, making A. sarawacensis the basionym of W. sarawacensis. "Willughbeia sarawacensis (Pierre) K.Schum". Tropicos. Saint Louis, Missouri: Missouri Botanical Garden. Retrieved 19 March 2014.
  2. ^ Kew World Checklist of Selected Plant Families