Skip to main content

Kepel (Stelechocarpus burahol)

Kepel (Stelechocarpus burahol) is a plant species in Annonaceae, an upright and hard woody tree, always green, a table fruit producing that is the mascot flora of Yogyakarta Province which is favored by the princesses of the Javanese kingdoms which are believed to make fragrant sweat and odorless urine.

S. burahol does not shed leaves simultaneously, height 25 m, regular canopy and dome-shaped tapering up with horizontal branches. The stem is up to 40 cm in diameter, dark brown to black and typically covered by many large lumps.

Dlium Kepel (Stelechocarpus burahol)

The leaves are elliptical to lanceolate, 12-27 cm long, 5-9 cm wide, a main bone in the middle, several pinnate minor bones, sharp edges, dark green, shiny, thick, hairless and thin horizontal. Petiole has a length of up to 1.5 cm.

The flowers are unisexual, appearing on the bulges on the trunk and turn green and turn white. Male flowers are located on the upper trunk and in the old branches, gathered in 8-16 buds and 1 cm in diameter. Female flowers appear at the base of the stem, 3 cm in diameter.

The fruit has 1-13 leaves, berrylike ripe carpels, ripe has a round shape, brownish color, 5-6 cm in diameter, brown pericarp, contains fruit juice and can be eaten. Fruit stalk length of 8 cm.

Each fruit has 4-6 seeds, shaped as long, 3 cm long, fresh weight 62-105 g, has a portion of 27% of the weight of fresh fruit, while the edible portion has a portion of 49%.





Ripe fruit is eaten fresh. The fruit is used for body fragrances, the flesh is orange and contains fruit juices that give urine, sweat and breath scents such as the smell of roses and sapodilla.

The fruit is used for laxative urine, preventing inflammation of the kidneys and preventing temporary pregnancy which women use as natural contraception. Wood for household utensils, straight stems soaked for several months in water for building materials and lasting more than 50 years.

Kepel becomes a beautiful ornamental tree, the leaves appear simultaneously changing from pale pink to purplish red before turning again to brilliant green. Cylindrical canopy with many lateral branches systematically arranged adds beauty.

S. burahol grows wild on moist and deep soils in secondary forests on Java. This species can grow well between bamboo groves where other species cannot compete in that place. Often cultivated as fruit trees at an altitude of 600 m.

Kepel is generally propagated from seeds taken from ripe fruit and sown as soon as possible. Tapping and grafting have been tried, but it did not work. The fruit is considered ripe if the skin is scratched to look yellow or light brown inside. The fruit can be stored 2-3 weeks at room temperature.

Kingdom: Plantae
Phylum: Tracheophyta
Subphylum: Angiospermae
Class: Magnoliopsida
Order: Magnoliales
Family: Annonaceae
Genus: Stelechocarpus
Species: Stelechocarpus burahol

Popular Posts

Purwaceng (Pimpinella pruatjan)

Purwaceng or purwoceng or antanan gunung or Viagra of Java ( Pimpinella pruatjan or Pimpinella priatjan ) are small termas growing horizontally in Apiaceae, growing in villages on Dieng Plateau, Central Java Province, Indonesia, at 1,500 to 2,000 meters above sea level, the roots have medicinal properties for aphrodisiacs and are usually processed in powder form for a mixture of coffee or milk. P. pruatjan grows flat on the ground but does not propagate, small leaves are reddish green for 1-3 cm in diameter. This plant is only found in Java and grows in high mountain areas. A low population where industrial demand is very high results in increasingly scarce. Another place that is likely to become a purwaceng habitat is the Iyang Mountains and the Tengger Mountains in East Java Province. Efforts to multiply and cultivate have a big problem where these plants have difficulty producing seeds. In vitro propagation research through tissue cultivation has been carried out to overcome ...

New living fossil, Amethyst worm lizard (Amphisbaena amethysta), from Espinhaço Mountain Range, Brazil

NEWS - New species from the northern Espinhaço Mountains, Caetité municipality, Bahia state, Brazil. Amethyst worm lizard ( Amphisbaena amethysta ) is the 71st species of the genus with 4 precloacal pores and the 22nd species of Caatinga morphoclimatic domain. Identification of the new species shows the reptiles of the Mountains are far from complete and may contain greater diversity of endemic taxa. A. amethysta can be distinguished by its anteriorly convex snout, slightly compressed and unkeeled, pectoral scales arranged in regular annuli, four precloacal pores, distinct head shield, 185-199 dorsal and half annuli, 13-16 caudal annuli, a conspicuous autotomy spot between the 4th-6th caudal annuli, 16-21 dorsal and ventral segments in the middle of the body, 3/3 supralabials, 3/3 infralabials and a smooth and rounded tail tip. A. amethysta occurs in areas with an average elevation of 1000 meters in patches of deciduous and semi-deciduous forests associated with valleys, slopes, fore...

Six new species forming the Sumbana species group in genus Nemophora Hoffmannsegg 1798 from Indonesia

NEWS - Sumbawa longhorn ( Nemophora sumbana Kozlov, sp. nov.), Timor longhorn ( Nemophora timorella Kozlov, sp. nov.), shining shade longhorn ( Nemophora umbronitidella Kozlov, sp. nov.), Wegner longhorn ( Nemophora wegneri Kozlov, sp. nov.), long brush longhorn ( Nemophora longipeniculella Kozlov, sp. nov.), and short brush longhorn ( Nemophora brevipeniculella Kozlov, sp. nov.) from the Lesser Sunda Islands in Indonesia. The Lesser Sunda Islands consist of two parallel, linear oceanic island chains, including Bali, Lombok, Sumbawa, Flores, Sumba, Sawu, Timor, Alor, and Tanimbar. The oldest of these islands have been continuously occurring for 10–12 million years. This long period of isolation has allowed significant in situ diversification, making the Lesser Sundas home to many endemic species. This island chain may act as a two-way filter for organisms migrating between the world's two great biogeographic regions, Asia and Australia-Papua. The recognition of a striking cli...