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Rukam (Flacourtia rukam)

Dlium Rukam (Flacourtia rukam)

Rukam or rukem (Flacourtia rukam) is a species of plant in the Salicaceae, a tree with a height of up to 15 meters, cylindrical stem, sometimes having thorns, the hard wood, bark is light brown, the fruit is round, fleshy and has a sour or astringent taste.

F. rukam has red to brown young leaves and dark green old leaves. Mature leaves are slightly oval in shape with a serrated edge, up to 31 cm long, up to 14 cm wide and with a conical tip.



Male flowers and female flowers are yellow-green and grow in the leaf axils. The fruit is round, up to 3 cm and yellow or green or red or purple, has whitish flesh, contains a lot of water and has a sweet-sour taste.

The fruit is eaten directly or processed into jam, jelly and sweets. Rukam fruit can also be used as an addition to salads and side dishes. Young fruit contains tannins which are used to treat diarrhea and dysentery. The juice of the leaves is used to treat eye irritation. The root is consumed by women after giving birth. Strong and hard wood for household utensils and furniture.

TAXON

Kingdom: Plantae
Phylum: Tracheophyta
Subphylum: Angiospermae
Class: Magnoliopsida
Order: Malpighiales
Family: Salicaceae
Genus: Flacourtia Comm. ex L'Hér. in Stirp. Nov.: 59 (1786)
Species: Flacourtia rukam Zoll. & Moritzi in A.Moritzi, Syst. Verz. Java: 33 (1846)

HETEROTYPIC SYNONYMS

Flacourtia cataphracta Blume in Bijdr. Fl. Ned. Ind.: 55 (1825)
Flacourtia edulis Griff. in Not. Pl. Asiat. 4: 612 (1854)
Flacourtia euphlebia Merr. in Philipp. J. Sci., C 9: 324 (1914)
Flacourtia megaphylla Ridl. in J. Bot. 74: 223 (1936)
Flacourtia peninsula Elmer in Leafl. Philipp. Bot. 10: 3808 (1939)
Flacourtia rukam var. micronesica Fosberg & Sachet in Smithsonian Contr. Bot. 45: 14 (1980)
Flacourtia sulcata Elmer in Leafl. Philipp. Bot. 7: 2653 (1915)
Hisingera grandifolia Turcz. in Bull. Soc. Imp. Naturalistes Moscou 27(II): 332 (1854 publ. 1855)

PUBLICATIONS

Aung, Y.L., Aung, M.H., Tan, Y. & Jin, X. (2025). An updated checklist of vascular plants of Myanmar. PhytoKeys 261: 135-364.

Banks, R.C. (ed.) (1982). Wildlife and wildlife habitat of American Samoa 2: 1-151. U.S. Fisch and Wildlife services, Washington.

Barooah, C. & Ahmed, I. (2014). Plant diversity of Assam. A checklist of Angiosperms and Gymnosperms: 1-599. Assam science technology and environment council, India.

Govaerts, R. (2001). World Checklist of Seed Plants Database in ACCESS Genera starting with letter E-F: 1-50919.

Meyer, J.-Y. (2017). Guide des plantes de Wallis et Futuna: 1-486. Au vent des iles, editions, Tahiti.

Morat, P. & Veillon, J.-M. (1985). Contributions à la conaissance de la végétation et de la flore de Wallis et Futuna. Bulletin du Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle. Section B, Adansonia 7: 259-329.

Newman, M., Ketphanh, S., Svengsuksa, B., Thomas, P., Sengdala, K., Lamxay, V. & Armstrong, K. (2007). A checklist of the vascular plants of Lao PDR: 1-394. Royal Botanic Gardens, Edinburgh.

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.

Turner, I.M. (1995). A catalogue of the Vascular Plants of Malaya. Gardens' Bulletin Singapore 47(1): 1-346.

Whistler, W.A. (2022). Flora of Samoa Flowering Plants: 1-930. National Tropical Botanicl Garden. Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History.

Wu, Z., Raven, P.H. & Hong, D. (eds.) (2007). Flora of China 13: 1-548. Science Press (Beijing) & Missouri Botanical Garden Press (St. Louis).

VERNACULAR NAME

Dayak: Klang tatah kutang
Dutch: Roekem
English: Rukam
Indonesian: Rukam, Rukem
Java: Rukem
Malaysia: Rukam manis, Rukam gajah
Melayu: Rukam

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