Herbarium Sheet Detail
NTBG Plant Name:
Averrhoa bilimbi
Collector Name:
Michael J. Balick
Collection Date:
August 7, 2007
Observers:
Stephen Dahmer, Yadana Desmond, Christopher Kitalong.
Locality:
Location at exit of trail.
Plant Description:
Tree to 8m tall; dbh 12cm. Fruits green, flowers yellow. Fruits grow on the trunk. It is believed that if the imekurs tree is shaken or beaten with a stick, it will bear fruit. Its other name, oterbekii, literally means "to rape" due to how it could bear fruit and how the fruits are almost shaped like a penis. (RS).
Ethnobotanical Notes:
Use: Food- Edible fruit. Useed like lemon (Citrus limon) or amra [titimel] (Spondias pinnata) to make soup have a sour taste. Fruits are sometimes cooked with the giant clam (RS).
Washing/cleanser- Gather many of the imekurs and put in a bucket. Squash them and put brush in buck to clean the bottom of boats (liquid from crushed fruits). Fruits used to whiten teeth. Collect ripe fruit and rub against teeth. (RS)
Farming- Leaves are also good for fertilizing taro patches. (RS)
Comments:
Additional interview (August 9, 2007) Diladelbai Raphaela Sumang (RS). A research collaboration of the Belau Natioanl Museum, the Community of Oikull, and the New York Botanical Garden Institute of Economic Botany Fieldwork funded the V. Kann Rasmussen Foundation.
Date of Last Update:
August 6, 2023
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