Pong pong (Cerbera odollam) is a plant species in Apocynaceae, a medium-sized tree with circular branches around the trunk, non-woody, gummy white, highly poisonous and the leaves are used for bioinsecticide, seeds are used as biodiesel material and often used for ornamental plants.
C. odollam is less than 17 meters tall, grows upright, has low and sideways branches to form an umbrella canopy, the bark is thin and dark brown, lots of white sap, the whole stem has traces of circular petioles.
Leaves have large stalks with thick strands, inverted or elongated ovoid, 4.5-7 cm wide, 15-30 cm long, blunt base, sharp tip, a large bone in the middle with sideways veins, dark green and shiny upper surface, the lower surface is lighter.
The white flower is located at the end of the stem and long stalk. Trumpet-shaped crown with five tongues, tube 1.5-2 cm long, white with yellow tunnels and a few yellow hairs.
The fruit is round, green in color with a green fibrous shell enclosing an ovoid core measuring approximately 2x1.5 cm and consisting of two matching white fleshy halves. The white kernels turn purple when exposed to sunlight, then dark gray and finally brown or black.
TAXON
Kingdom: Plantae
Phylum: Tracheophyta
Subphylum: Angiospermae
Class: Magnoliopsida
Order: Gentianales
Family: Apocynaceae
Subfamily: Rauvolfioideae
Tribe: Plumerieae
Subtribe: Thevetiinae
Genus: Cerbera L. in Sp. Pl.: 208 (1753)
Species: Cerbera odollam Gaertn. in Fruct. Sem. Pl. 2: 193 (1791)
HOMOTYPIC SYNONYMS
Tanghinia odollam (Gaertn.) G.Don in Gen. Hist. 4: 98 (1837)
HETEROTYPIC SYNONYMS
Cerbera dilatata Markgr. in Bot. Jahrb. Syst. 61: 196 (1927)
Cerbera forsteri Seem. in Fl. Vit.: 157 (1866)
Cerbera lactaria Buch.-Ham. ex Spreng. in Syst. Veg., ed. 16. 1: 642 (1825)
Odollamia malabarica Raf. in Sylva Tellur.: 162 (1838)
Tanghinia lactaria (Buch.-Ham. ex Spreng.) G.Don in R.Sweet, Sweet's Hort. Brit., ed. 3.: 461 (1839)
Excoecaria ovatifolia Noronha in Verh. Batav. Genootsch. Kunsten 5(4): 1 (1790)
PUBLICATIONS
Baksh-Comeau, Y., Maharaj, S.S., Adams, C.D., Harris, S.A., Filer, D.L. & Hawthorne, W.D. (2016). An annotated checklist of the vascular plants of Trinidad and Tobago with analysis of vegetation types and botanical 'hotspots'. Phytotaxa 250: 1-431.
Debnath, H.S. (2004). Mangroves of Andaman & Nicobar islands: taxonomy and ecology: 1-133. Bishen Singh Mahendra Pal Singh, Dehra Dun.
Dy Phon, P. (2000). Dictionnaire des plantes utilisées au Cambodge: 1-915. Chez l'auteur, Phnom Penh, Cambodia.
Govaerts, R. (1999). World Checklist of Seed Plants 3(1, 2a & 2b): 1-1532. MIM, Deurne.
Govaerts, R. (2003). World Checklist of Selected Plant Families Database in ACCESS: 1-216203. The Board of Trustees of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.
Karthigeyan, K., Pandey, R.P. & Mao, A.A. (eds.) (2023). Flora of Andaman and Nicobar Islands 2: 1-689. Botanical Survey of India. Ministry of environment, forest and climate change.
Middleton, D.J. (2007). Apocynaceae (subfamilies Rauvolfioideae and Apocynoideae). Flora Malesiana 18: 1-474. Noordhoff-Kolff N.V., Djakarta.
Middleton, D.J. (2011). Flora of peninsular Malaysia, II, 2: 1-235. Institut Penyelidikan Perhutanan Malaysia.
Middleton, D.J. (2014). Flore du Cambodge du Laos et du Viêt-Nam 33: 1-276. Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle, Paris.
National Parks Board Singapore (2006). Vascular Plant Life Checklist Pulau Ubin www.nparks.gov.sg/nparks_cms/cms/cmsmgr/data/6/PlantChkList.xls.
Nurtjahya, E. & al. (2026). Flowering Plants of Bangka Island: Native and Introduced. Acta Botanica Hungarica 68: 127-156.
Plunkett, G.M., Ranker, T.A., Sam, C. & Balick, M.J. (2022). Towards a checklist of the vascular flora of Vanuatu. Candollea 77: 105-118.
Sykes, W.R. (2016). Flora of the Cook Islands: 1-973. National Tropical Botanical Garden, Hawaii.
Welsh, S.L. (1998). Flora Societensis: 1-420. E.P.S. Inc. Utah.
Wheatley, J.I. (1992). A guide to the common trees of Vanuatu. With lists of their traditional uses & ni-Vanuatu names: 1-308. Department of Forestry, Port Vila.
Whistler, W.A. (2022). Flora of Samoa Flowering Plants: 1-930. National Tropical Botanicl Garden. Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History.
VERNACULAR NAME
Bengali: ডাবর Dabur
Chinese (simplified): 海檬树
Chinese (traditional): 南洋海檬果
English: Pong Pong, Suicide tree, Grey milkwood, Jungle mango, Sea mango, Yellow-eyed cerbera
Finnish: Intiansurmanpuu, Ontiansurmanpuu
French: Arbre à suicide
German: Zerberusbaum
Hindi: पिलिकिरबिर Pilikirbir
Indonesian: Bintaro, Pohon pong-pong, Beribadak, Kenyen putih, Koyandan, Mangga prabu, Mangga laut
Japanese: マリアナミフクラギ
Java: Pong pong, Moto buto
Kannada: Chande, Honde, Monde mara, Kande mara
Konkani: Hondya ruku, Kharo uro, Sukanu
Madagascar: Famentana, kisopo, samanta, tangena
Malayalam: Chattankai, Othallam, Odalam
Marathi: Sukanu
Odia: Pani amba
Russian: Цербера одолламская
Sanskrit: Auddalaka, Svanamara
Sinhalese: ගොන් කදුරු
Slovak: Cerbera vražedná
Sumatera: Kayu susu
Taiwan: 南洋海檬果
Tamil: Kattalari, Utalai
Telugu: Adavi arali
Thai: ตีนเป็ดน้ำ
Tulu: Chende mara, Tende mara
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