Canarium is a genus of about 120 species of tropical and subtropical trees, in the family Burseraceae. They grow naturally across tropical Africa, south and southeast Asia, Indochina, Malesia, Australia and western Pacific Islands; including from southern Nigeria east to Madagascar, Mauritius, Sri Lanka and India; from Burma, Malaysia and Thailand through the Malay Peninsula and Vietnam to south China, Taiwan and the Philippines; through Borneo, Indonesia, Timor and New Guinea, through to the Solomon Islands, Vanuatu, New Caledonia, Fiji, Samoa, Tonga and Palau.
Canarium species grow up to large evergreen trees of tall, and have alternately arranged, pinnate leaves. They are dioecious, with male and female flowers growing on separate trees.
Species As of January 2024, Plants of the World Online accepts 121 species. The brief species distribution information was sourced from Flora Malesiana, the Flora of China (series), the Australian Tropical Rainforest Plants information system, and Plants of the World Online.
Canarium acutifolium – New Guinea, Maluku, Sulawesi, New Britain, New Ireland, Bougainville, Qld Australia Canarium album Chinese white olive (橄欖) – Taiwan, S China, Vietnam Canarium ampasindavae – Madagascar Canarium apertum – Sumatra, Malay Peninsula, Borneo Canarium arcuatum – Madagascar Canarium asperum – New Guinea, Maluku, Sulawesi, Philippines, Borneo, Java, Sumbawa, Sumba, Flores, Timor, Solomon Is., Canarium australasicum – Qld, NSW, Australia endemic Canarium australianum – New Guinea, Qld, NT, WA, Australia Canarium balansae – New Caledonia endemic Canarium balsamiferum – Maluku, Sulawesi Canarium batjanense – Maluku Canarium bengalense – India, Burma, Laos, Thailand, S China Canarium betamponae – Madagascar Canarium boivinii – northeastern Madagascar Canarium bullatum – northern and northeastern Madagascar Canarium caudatum – Sumatra, Malay Peninsula, Borneo Canarium cestracion – E New Guinea Canarium chinare – Solomon Is., Admiralty Is. Canarium cinereum – Vietnam Canarium compressum – Madagascar Canarium copaliferum – Vietnam Canarium decumanum – E Borneo, Maluku, New Guinea, Sulawesi Canarium denticulatum – Andaman Is., Burma, Sumatra, Malay Penin., Java, Borneo, Philippines Canarium dichotomum – Sumatra, Borneo Canarium divergens – Borneo Canarium egregium – Madagascar Canarium elegans — Madagascar Canarium engleri – Vietnam Canarium euphyllum – Andaman Is. Canarium euryphyllum – Philippines Canarium ferrugineum – Madagascar Canarium findens – Madagascar Canarium fugax – Madagascar Canarium fuscocalycinum – Borneo Canarium galokense – Madagascar Canarium globosum – Madagascar Canarium gracile – Philippines Canarium grandifolium – Malay Peninsula Canarium harveyi – Fiji, Niue, Santa Cruz Islands, Solomon Islands, Tonga, Vanuatu, Wallis and Futuna Canarium hirsutum – New Guinea to throughout Malesia, Solomon Is., Palau Canarium indicum – New Guinea, New Britain, New Ireland, Solomon Is., Vanuatu, Maluku, Sulawesi Canarium indistinctum – Madagascar Canarium intermedium – S Sumatra Canarium kaniense – New Guinea Canarium karoense – N Sumatra Canarium kerrii – Thailand Canarium kinabaluense – N Borneo Canarium kipella – W Java Canarium kostermansii – Borneo Canarium lamianum – Madagascar Canarium lamii – New Guinea Canarium latistipulatum – Borneo Canarium liguliferum – Solomon Islands (Rob Roy Island) Canarium littorale – Indo-China, Sumatra, Malay Peninsula, Java, Borneo Canarium lobocarpum – Madagascar Canarium longistipulatum – Madagascar Canarium luzonicum – Philippines Canarium lyi – Vietnam Canarium macadamii – New Guinea Canarium madagascariense – Madagascar (Nosy Bé) Canarium maluense – Sulawesi, Maluku, New Guinea, Borneo Canarium manii – Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Myanmar Canarium manongarivum – Madagascar Canarium megacarpum – New Guinea Canarium megalanthum – Sumatra, Malay Peninsula, Borneo Canarium merrillii – Borneo Canarium muelleri – Queensland endemic, Australia Canarium multiflorum – Madagascar Canarium multinerve – Madagascar Canarium nitidifolium – Madagascar Canarium obovatum – Madagascar Canarium obtusifolium – eastern Madagascar Canarium odontophyllum – Sumatra, Borneo, Philippines (Palawan) Canarium oleiferum – New Caledonia endemic Canarium oleosum – New Guinea, New Britain, Timor, Maluku, Sulawesi Canarium ovatum – Philippines, cultivated Asia–Pacific Canarium pallidum – Madagascar Canarium paniculatum – Mauritius Canarium parvum – S China, Vietnam Canarium patentinervium – Sumatra, Malay Peninsula, Banka, Borneo Canarium perlisanum – Malay Peninsula (Perlis) Canarium pilicarpum – northern and east-northeastern Madagascar Canarium pilososylvestre – W New Guinea Canarium pilosum – Sumatra, Malay Peninsula, Borneo subsp. borneensis – Borneo Canarium pimela Chinese black olive (乌榄) – Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos, S China Canarium planifolium – Madagascar Canarium polyphyllum – New Guinea Canarium pseudodecumanum – Sumatra, Malay Peninsula, Borneo Canarium pseudopatentinervium – S Sumatra, Banka, Borneo Canarium pseudopimela – Borneo (Sarawak) Canarium pseudosumatranum – Malay Peninsula Canarium pulchrebracteatum – eastern Madagascar Canarium reniforme – Peninsular Malaysia Canarium resiniferum – Assam and Bangladesh Canarium rigidum – New Guinea Canarium rotundifolium – Cambodia and Vietnam Canarium salomonense – New Guinea and Solomon Islands Canarium sarawakanum – Borneo (Sarawak) Canarium schweinfurthii – African canarium; from Nigeria and Angola to Uganda Canarium sikkimense – Sikkim Canarium strictum – India, Burma, S China Canarium subsidarium – Madagascar Canarium subtile – Madagascar Canarium subulatum – Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos, S China Canarium sumatranum – Sumatra, Malay Peninsula Canarium sylvestre – New Guinea, Maluku Canarium thorelianum – Cambodia and Vietnam Canarium trifoliolatum – New Caledonia endemic Canarium trigonum – Sulawesi Canarium vanikoroense – Fiji, Santa Cruz Islands, Vanuatu, and Wallis and Futuna Canarium velutinifolium – Madagascar Canarium venosum – Thailand Canarium vitiense – Fiji, Solomon Is., Samoa, Tonga, New Guinea, Bismarck Arch., Admiralty Is., Louisiade Arch., Torres Strait I's, Qld Australia Canarium vittatistipulatum – Vietnam Canarium vrieseanum – Philippines, Sulawesi Canarium vulgare – Flores, Timor, Sulawesi, Maluku Canarium whitei – New Caledonia endemic Canarium zeylanicum – Sri Lanka
Ecology Superb fruit-doves (Ptilinopus superbus) are known to be fond of the fruit of scrub turpentine (C. australianum), which they swallow whole.
Many animals feed on the fruit of C. odontophyllum in the wild, such as the red-bellied lemur (Eulemur rubriventer) and the ruffed lemurs (Varecia) of Madagascar's eastern tropical forests. Canarium fruit is also an important part of the diet of the aye-aye (Daubentonia madagascarensis).
Uses Several species have edible nuts, known as galip nut or nangae (C. indicum), pili nut (C. ovatum), or simply canarium nut (C. harveyi and C. indicum). C. indicum are among the most important nut-bearing trees in eastern Indonesia and the Southwest Pacific. C. ovatum is cultivated as a food crop only in the Philippines.Pili Nut, Canarium ovatum, New Crop Fact Sheet. Purdue University Center for New Crops and Plant Products.
C. odontophyllum, known commonly as dabai or kembayau, is a species with a nutritious fruit with a creamy taste. It is hard when raw and may be pickled or softened with hot water when prepared.
Canarium album produces a fruit consumed in Vietnam, Thailand (where it is known as nam liap (), samo chin () or kana ()) and in China (Chinese: 橄欖) with an appearance of a big olive.
Canarium luzonicum, commonly known as elemi, is a tree native to the Philippines. An oleoresin, which contains elemicin, is harvested from it.
Canarium strictum produces a resin called black dammar.
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