Skip to main content

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

Aryo Bandoro
Dlium TheDlium
Web: https://www.dlium.com
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@Dlium
Labels:

Popular Posts

Kemadih (Fagraea ceilanica)

Kemadih ( Fagraea ceilanica ) is a species of plant in the Gentianaceae family. It grows as a climber and covers host trees. It is a perennial, multi-branched, hardwood plant with hard, brown bark and dark green young bark. F. ceilanica has thick leaves, 15 cm long and 8 cm wide. A central vein is linear, with a pointed tip and base. The upper surface is dark green and the lower surface is bright green. The petiole is 3 cm long. The flowers are fan-shaped with 5 inflorescences. The base is narrow, whitish-yellow or bright green, and 8 cm wide. Four inflorescences with brownish-white tips and one inflorescence with a green tip grow in the center. The fruit is green, 3.5 cm long, and the stalk is 2 cm long. TAXON Kingdom: Plantae Phylum: Tracheophyta Subphylum: Angiospermae Class: Magnoliopsida Order: Gentianales Family: Gentianaceae Tribe: Potalieae Subtribe: Potaliinae Genus: Fagraea Thunb. in Kongl. Vetensk. Acad. Nya Handl. 3: 125 (1782) Species: Fagraea ceilanica Thunb. in Kong...
Read more

Plumeria rubra and Plumeria obtusa, the differences

SPECIES HEAD TO HEAD - The genus frangipani trees ( Plumeria Tourn. ex L.) has only 18 officially recorded species and two very similar species, frangipani ( Plumeria rubra L.) and white frangipani ( Plumeria obtusa L.). Both have the same habitus, flowers and fruits and are difficult to distinguish. The leaves of both species have slightly different shapes. Therefore, the leaves are very important to distinguish the two species, especially the shape of the tip. P. rubra has simple, lanceolate leaves with acute tips. P. obtusa has simple, elliptic leaves with rounded tips. By Aryo Bandoro Founder of Dlium.com . You can follow him on X: @Abandoro . Read more: Plumeria rubra Plumeria obtusa
Read more

Giant shield bug (Pycanum alternatum)

Giant shield bug or pycanum rubens ( Pycanum alternatum ) is a species of animal in Tessaratomidae, has a large shield covering the back, shiny green-blue-brown colored and appears to have a powder or wax layer, inhabiting the leaves of plants in open forests or bushes . P. alternatum is also called a stink bug because of its ability to release pungent aromas when disturbed. These insects live solitary with a partner and usually the mother gather in a family together in nymphs. White eggs are attached under the leaves of the plant. Nymphs can be found in the same host as their parent. The nymph has a flat rectangular shape with a large vein in the middle like a flat leaf. Nymphs having striking colors are light green, orange and red. Color may represent various stages of development or gender. The initial stage has a small size and red color. It grows in a bigger size and turns orange then ends in green. Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Arthropoda Class: Insecta Order: Hemipter...
Read more