Salacca

Salacca
Salacca zalacca fruit
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae
(unranked): Angiosperms
(unranked): Monocots
(unranked): Commelinids
Order: Arecales
Family: Arecaceae
Subfamily: Calamoideae
Tribe: Calameae
Genus: Salacca
Reinw.
Synonyms[1]
  • Salakka Reinw. ex Blume
  • Zalacca Rumph. ex Blume
  • Lophospatha Burret

Salacca is a genus of about 20 species of palms native to Southeast Asia and the eastern Himalayas.[1][2]

They are very short-stemmed palms, with leaves up to 6–8 m long. The leaves have a spiny petiole; in most species they are pinnate with numerous leaflets, but some species, notably S. magnifica, have undivided leaves. The fruit grow in clusters at the base of the plants, and are edible in many species, with a reddish-brown scaly skin covering a white pulp and one to two large inedible seeds. The Salak (S. zalacca) or snakefruit is the species most widely grown for its fruit; the firm white pulp has a slight acidic taste. The skin of the snakefruit has a unique texture not unlike that of a snake's skin, rough to the touch in one direction but smooth in the other.

Species

The fruit of the Salacca wallichiana are called Luk rakam (ลูกระกำ) in Thailand

References

  1. 1 2 Kew World Checklist of Selected Plant Families
  2. Govaerts, R. & Dransfield, J. (2005). World Checklist of Palms: 1-223. The Board of Trustees of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.


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