Sea almond (Terminalia catappa) is a species of plant in the Combretaceae, a shady tree, grows quickly, forms a multi-tiered canopy and is often used as a shade tree in parks and roadsides.
T. catappa grows large, up to 40 meters high and trunk up to 1.5 meters, shady canopy with branches that grow horizontally and in tiers, young trees often look like pagodas while old and large trees often have aerial roots up to 3 meters.
Leaves are scattered, mostly crowded at the end of the twig, short-stemmed, round inverted egg-shaped, 8-38 cm long, 5-19 cm wide, wide tip with a sharp point and narrow base, smooth upper surface and smooth-haired lower surface, colored green but turns reddish when it falls off.
The flowers are small, collected in spikelets near the ends of the twigs, 8-25 cm long and yellow-green in color. The flowers are not crowned, the petals have five spurs, are plate or bell shaped, 4-8 mm and are white or cream in color. The stamens are in two whorls and arranged five by five.
The fruit is oval, slightly flattened, faceted or narrow-winged, 2.5-7 cm long, 4-5.5 cm wide, green or yellow or red, reddish purple when ripe and black when dry. The fruit has a corky layer that can float in river and sea water for months to expand, and is also spread by bats.
The tree grow in coastal and lowland climates up to an elevation of 500 meters, rainfall 1000-3500 mm/year and dry for up to 6 months, temperature 21-32C, sand and clay soil, neutral to alkaline soil pH and well-drained. The tree sheds leaves up to two times every year to withstand the dry months.
This plant contains flavonoids (vitexin, isovitexin, isoorientin), triterpenoids, alkaloids, apigenin, tannins, saponins, terpenoids, glycosides, anthraquinones. Has antioxidant, antibacterial, anti-inflammatory, anti-diabetic and anti-cancer activity, treats dysentery, coughs, nerve pain, hepatitis, lowers high blood pressure, treats stomach ache and kidney disease.
Tree bark and leaves are used to tan leather and to make ink. The bark produces yellow, brown and olive dyes and contains 11–23% tannins, while the leaves contain 12 types of tannins that can be hydrolyzed.
The wood is pale red to brownish in color, has a BJ of 0.465-0.675 which is hard and ductile but not very durable. The wood is known in trade as red-brown terminalia and is used as floor covering or veneer, boats and spices.
The seeds are eaten raw or cooked and used as a substitute for almonds in baked goods. Sun-dried seed kernels produce yellow oil and contain fatty acids including palmitic acid (55.5%), oleic acid (23.3%), linoleic acid, stearic acid and myristic acid. These dry seeds also contain protein (25%), sugar (16%) and various amino acids.
TAXON
Kingdom: Plantae
Phylum: Tracheophyta
Subphylum: Angiospermae
Class: Magnoliopsida
Order: Myrtales
Family: Combretaceae
Genus: Terminalia L. in Mant. Pl.: 21 (1767)
Species: Terminalia catappa L. in Mant. Pl.: 128 (1767)
HOMOTYPIC SYNONYMS
Buceras catappa (L.) Hitchc. in Rep. (Annual) Missouri Bot. Gard. 4: 85 (1893)
Myrobalanus catappa (L.) Kuntze in Revis. Gen. Pl. 1: 237 (1891)
Juglans catappa (L.) Lour. in Fl. Cochinch.: 573 (1790)
HETEROTYPIC SYNONYMS
Myrobalanus commersonii Kuntze (1891)
Myrobalanus rubrigemmis (Tul.) Kuntze (1891)
Terminalia burmanica King ex Prain in J. Asiat. Soc. Bengal, Pt. 2, Nat. Hist. 73: 204 (1904)
Terminalia catappa var. chlorocarpa Hassk. in Tijdschr. Natuurl. Gesch. Physiol. 10: 145 (1843)
Terminalia catappa var. macrocarpa Hassk. (1843)
Terminalia catappa var. pubescens Kurz in Forest Fl. Burma 1: 454 (1877)
Terminalia catappa var. rhodocarpa Hassk. (1843)
Terminalia catappa var. subcordata (Humb. & Bonpl. ex Willd.) DC. in Prodr. 3: 11 (1828)
Terminalia intermedia Bertero ex Spreng. in Syst. Veg., ed. 16. 2: 359 (1825)
Terminalia kydiana Roxb. ex Wall. in Numer. List: n.° 3974 (1831)
Terminalia latifolia Blanco in Fl. Filip.: 376 (1837)
Terminalia mauritiana Blanco in Fl. Filip., ed. 2.: 264 (1845)
Terminalia moluccana Lam. in Encycl. 1: 349 (1785)
Terminalia ovatifolia Noronha in Verh. Batav. Genootsch. Kunsten 5(4): 27 (1790)
Terminalia paraensis Mart. in Flora 24(2 Beibl.): 24 (1841)
Terminalia rubrigemmis Tul. in Ann. Sci. Nat., Bot., sér. 4, 6: 102 (1856)
Terminalia subcordata Humb. & Bonpl. ex Willd. in Sp. Pl., ed. 4. 4: 968 (1806)
Phytolacca javanica Osbeck in Dagb. Ostind. Resa: 276 (1757)
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VERNACULAR NAME
Australia: Beach almond
Batak: Hatapang
Bengali: বাদামা - বাদাম Badama, Badam
Bikol: Dalinsi
Brunei: telisai
Bugis: Atapang
Burmese: ဘာဒန် Badan
Chamorro: Talisai
Chinese (simplified): 榄仁
Chinese (traditional): 欖仁樹 - 欖仁 - 雨傘樹
Czech: Vrcholák pravý
English: Sea Almond, Bengal almond, Indian almond, Malabar almond, Singapore almond, Tropical almond, Sea almond, Beach almond, Talisay tree, Umbrella tree, Country almond
Fijian: Tavola
Filipino: Talisai, Almendras, Dalinsi
Finnish: Manteliketapani
French: Badamier, Amandier
German: Katappenbaum, Meermandelbaum, Seemandelbaum, Indische Mandel, Badam
Gujarati: Badamalili
Hindi: जंगली बादाम - देसी बादाम Jungli Badam, Desi Badam
Hong Kong: 欖仁樹
Indonesian: Ketapang, Katapang
Italian: Mandorlo indiano, Mirobalano, Mirabalano
Japanese: モモタマナ
Kannada: Kaadubaadaami, Naatibaadaami, Naadubaadaami, Tavasa, Taree
Khmer: ចាបបារាំង - កាប៉ាង - ប្រាសាទប្រាង្គ Châmbâk barang, Kapang, Pareang prang
Lao: ຫູກວາງ - ສົມສີມ ດົງ - ຫົວຂວງ Hu kwang, Sômz moox dông, Hou kouang
Lithuanian: Migdolinis viršūklis
Macao: 欖仁樹
Malayalam: Adamaram, Badam Kadappa, Kottakuru, Natu-badam, Oodal, Thalli-thenga, Talintanna
Malaysia: Jelawai Ketapang, Telisai
Maluku Utara: Tiliso, Tiliho, Ngusu
Maluku: Sarisa, Sirisa, Sirisal, Sarisalo
Marathi: Jangli badam, Bengali badam
Minangkabau: Katapiĕng
Mizo: Thing-nihliap
Nepali: काठिया बदाम Kaathiyaa Badaam
Nias: katafa
Oriya: Desiyobadamo
Palauan: Miich
Papua Barat: Kalis, Kris
PNG: Reddish-brown terminalia
Polish: Migdałecznik właściwy
Portuguese: Amendoeira-da-índia, Arvore-de-anoz, Amendoeira-da-praia, Sete-copas, Castanheira-da-praia, Amendoeira, Castanhola, Castanheira
Rote: Lisa
Russian: Терминалия катаппа
Sanskrit: Inguda, Ingudi, Ingudee, Taapasataru, Tailaphala
Simaulue: Lahapang
Slovak: Vrcholiak liečivý
Spanish: Almendro malabar, Almendro de playa, Almendro
Sranan Tongo: Amandrabon
Sulawesi Utara: Talisei, Tarisei, Salrisé
Tagalog: Talisay
Taiwan: 欖仁 - 欖仁樹
Tamil: நட்டுவடுமை - வடுமை - பாதாம் - வதனி - நாட்டு வதம் - நாட்டு-வாதம் - இங்குட்டி - சாரா பருப்பு - வத்த-கோட்டை Nattuvadumai, Vadumai, Bhadam, Vadhani, Naattu vaadham, Nattu-vadam, Inguti, Saraparuppu, Vatha-kottai
Telugu: Badam Chettu, Vedam, Ingudu, Natubadan, Tapasataruvu, Badamu
Teupah: Lahapang
Thai: หูกวาง
Timor: Ketapas
Tongan: Telie
Aryo Bandoro
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