Plant of the week: Pangi

Name: Pangi (Pangium edule)

Otherwise known as: Kembang, Kepayang Tree

Habitat: A deciduous tree member of the Flacourtiaceae family growing up to 30m in rain forests in Indonesia and Malaysia. Pangi has large, three-lobed, deep green leaves and produces clusters of green/blue flowers that are transformed into a brown cylindrical fruit that smells of onions and measures up to 15cm. All parts of the plant and particularly the seeds are highly poisonous.

What does it do: Pangi seeds, leaf and bark, contain hydrocyanic, oleic and linoleic acids, which makes it extremely toxic. However, the seeds form part of the staple diet of the indigenous people of Micronesia, but like Manioc (Manihot esculenta), the poison is removed by the process of fermentation, and the resulting pulp is rendered harmless yet nutritious. Given the dangerous nature of the tree it is surprising that it features prominently in Malaysian folk medicine. The local folk doctors claim it is an anti-oxidant, and employ extracts from Pangi as a treatment for scabies, jungle ulcers, fevers and diarrhea. They believe that the remedies are passed to them by supernatural beings known as Tuga.

The natives of Papua-New Guinea make a capsule from the bark and seeds to stun fresh water fish and prepare a solution from the leaves as a skin wash to eradicate fleas, lice and tics. In Indonesia, a similar preparation is made to disinfect and cleanse houses after outbreaks of contagious diseases; the leaves are also used to preserve and flavour meats.

Both the root and seeds yield oil that soothes arthritis and provides fuel for oil lamps.

Between the wars, the hardwood taken from Pangi, and known in the timber trade as kembang, was a popular material for furnishing barrack floors, as the wood was hard enough not to be damaged by hobnail boots.

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