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Cembirit (Tabernaemontana macrocarpa)

Dlium Cembirit (Tabernaemontana macrocarpa)

Cembirit (Tabernaemontana macrocarpa) is a species of shrub in the Apocynaceae or tree up to 30 meters high with a trunk diameter of up to 50 cm, yellowish brown, brown, grey-brown or gray bark and abundant white gum.

T. macrocarpa grows in forests from sea level to an elevation of 1500 meters in a natural habitat of karst ecosystems, flowers all year round and is a pre-disturbance plant. The fragrant flowers feature a combination of cream, white and orange corolla lobes.





The single alternate leaves are oblong to lanceolate in shape, up to 23 cm long and up to 7 cm wide. The base of the leaf and the tip are sharp with flat edges, the upper surface is smooth green and the lower surface is light green smooth.

Fruit with paired follicles, round or oval in shape, each up to 10 cm in diameter. The fruit is green and will turn orange as it matures. They will split completely and face down when ripe and the flesh will be dark red.

Each fruit contains 90-120 black seeds with a seed germination percentage per fruit reaching 75.75% or 49 seeds out of 66 seeds per fruit. Cembirit in mixed forest communities is capable of producing up to 1225 flowers, 29 fruits and a fecundity of 2.37%.

This fruit has an attractive color and exotic shape, but has a bitter, poisonous and intoxicating taste. Traditional medicine uses the sap to treat tuberculosis, infectious diseases of the lungs, herpes and scabies and to cure toothache. The people of Kalimantan smear arrowheads as poison for hunting.

TAXON

Kingdom: Plantae
Phylum: Tracheophyta
Subphylum: Angiospermae
Class: Magnoliopsida
Order: Gentianales
Family: Apocynaceae
Subfamily: Rauvolfioideae
Tribe: Tabernaemontaneae
Subtribe: Tabernaemontaninae
Genus: Tabernaemontana Plum. ex L. in Sp. Pl.: 210 (1753)
Species: Tabernaemontana macrocarpa Jack in Malayan Misc. 2(7): 80 (1822)

HOMOTYPIC SYNONYMS

Ervatamia macrocarpa (Jack) Merr. in J. Arnold Arbor. 33: 246 (1952)
Pagiantha macrocarpa (Jack) Markgr. in Notizbl. Bot. Gart. Berlin-Dahlem 12: 546 (1935)

HETEROTYPIC SYNONYMS

Ervatamia plumeriifolia (Elmer) Pichon in Mém. Mus. Natl. Hist. Nat. 27: 220 (1948)
Orchipeda sumatrana Miq. in Fl. Ned. Ind., Eerste Bijv.: 553 (1861)
Pagiantha megacarpa (Merr.) Markgr. (1935)
Pagiantha plumeriifolia (Elmer) Markgr. in Mitt. Bot. Staatssamml. München 1: 29 (1950)
Tabernaemontana megacarpa Merr. in Philipp. J. Sci., C 4: 318 (1909)
Tabernaemontana plumeriifolia (Elmer) Merr. in Enum. Philipp. Fl. Pl. 3: 326 (1923)
Voacanga plumeriifolia Elmer in Leafl. Philipp. Bot. 1: 333 (1908)
Neuburgia sumatrana (Miq.) Boerl. in Handl. Fl. Ned. Ind. 2: 392 (1899)

PUBLICATIONS

Govaerts, R. (2003). World Checklist of Selected Plant Families Database in ACCESS: 1-216203. The Board of Trustees of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.

Middleton, D.J. (2007). Apocynaceae (subfamilies Rauvolfioideae and Apocynoideae). Flora Malesiana 18: 1-474. Noordhoff-Kolff N.V., Djakarta.

Middleton, D.J. (2011). Flora of peninsular Malaysia, II, 2: 1-235. Institut Penyelidikan Perhutanan Malaysia.

Nurtjahya, E. & al. (2026). Flowering Plants of Bangka Island: Native and Introduced. Acta Botanica Hungarica 68: 127-156.

Pooma, R. (ed.) (2005). A preliminary check-list of threatened plants in Thailand: 1-193. National Park, Wildlife and Plant Conservation Department, Bangkok.

VERNACULAR NAME

Chinese (Simplified): 大果狗牙花
Chinese (Traditional): 大果狗牙花 - 大果山馬茶
English: Cembirit
Indonesian: Cembirit, Pelir kambing
Java: Cembirit
Malaysia: Buah kelipah patong

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