Plant of the month Febuary,2005
Eng (thai)

 

 

Citrus halimii B.C.Stone, Biotropica, 5(2): 106. 1973.
Rutaceae

Description: Habit medium sized tree to 25 m tall, 60 cm diam.; young branches in sapling spiny.  Leaves unifoliolate, elliptic or slightly ovate, 8–15 x 3.5–7.5 cm; apex acute to shortly acuminate and emarginate; margin subcrenulate; secondary veins 7–11 pairs; petioles 1–2 cm long, narrowly winged or wingless.  Inflorescences solitary, Flowers 5-merous; pedicels 1–3.5 mm long; petals white, fragrant; stamens 18–20; ovary (6–)9–10 carpellate, ovules 1–3(–5) per locule; style columnar; stigma flat.  Fruits subglobose to slightly pyriform, 5–7 cm in diameter, green, turning deep yellow when ripe, smooth or bumpy; pericarp ca 6 mm thick; pulp-vesicles pale greenish to yellowish, juicy. Seeds numerous, to ca 2 cm long.

 

 

Distribution: Peninsular Malaysia, Borneo, and Peninsular Thailand, recorded from Nakhon Si Thammarat and Yala (Than To, Betong), on hillsides and mountain ridges, evergreen forest, 900–1,800 m. Fruits are edible.

Notes: Last updated on 2 December 2016.

Thai name: Som chit tai (ส้มจี๊ดใต้).

Photos: Rachun Pooma (Khao Chalongchai, Thanto, Yala).

References: 
Jones, D.T. 1995. Jones, D.T. 1995. Rutaceae. In Soepadmo, E. and K.M. Wong, Tree Flora of Sabah and Sarawak Vol. 1: 351–419.