Skip to main content

Kepel (Stelechocarpus burahol)

Dlium Kepel (Stelechocarpus burahol)

Kepel (Stelechocarpus burahol) is a species of plant in the Annonaceae, an upright tree, hardwood, evergreen, stems with asymmetrical bumps, producing table fruit which is the identity flora of Yogyakarta Province and is favored by the princesses of the palaces in Java where it is believed to cause sweat fragrant and urine is odorless.

S. burahol does not shed leaves simultaneously, 25 m tall, regular crown and dome-shaped tapering upwards with horizontal branches. Stem diameter up to 40 cm, dark brown-gray to black in color and typically covered with many large bumps.





Leaves are oval to lanceolate in shape, 12-27 cm long, 5-9 cm wide, dark green, hairless, thin and shiny. Petioles are up to 1.5 cm long. The leaves appear simultaneously changing from pale pink to purplish red before turning again to brilliant green. The canopy is cylindrical with many lateral branches arranged systematically.

The flowers are unisexual, appear on protrusions on the stem and are green then turn white. Male flowers are located on the upper stem and on old branches, gathered in 8-16 flowers and 1 cm in diameter. Female flowers appear at the base of the stem and are 3 cm in diameter.

Berrylike ripe carpels, ripe have a round shape, brown in color, 5-7 cm in diameter, the pericarp is brown, contains juice and is edible. Fruit stalk length 8 cm. Each fruit has 4-6 seeds, oblong in shape, 3 cm long, 3 cm wide, has a portion of 27% of the weight of the fresh fruit, while the edible part has a portion of 49%.

Ripe fruit is eaten fresh. Fruit can be stored for 2-3 weeks at room temperature. The flesh of the fruit is orange to yellow in color and contains fruit juice which gives an aroma to urine, sweat and breath such as the aroma of roses and sapodilla in body excretions.

The fruit is used to relieve urine, prevent kidney inflammation and is a natural contraceptive. Wood for household utensils, straight stems are soaked for several months in water for building materials and last more than 50 years. This species grows wild in damp and deep soil in secondary forests in Java at altitudes up to 600 meters.

TAXON

Kingdom: Plantae
Phylum: Tracheophyta
Subphylum: Angiospermae
Class: Magnoliopsida
Order: Magnoliales
Family: Annonaceae
Subfamily: Malmeoideae
Tribe: Miliuseae
Genus: Stelechocarpus Hook.f. & Thomson in Fl. Ind. Syst. Account 1: 94 (1855)
Species: Stelechocarpus burahol (Blume) Hook.f. & Thomson in Fl. Ind. Syst. Account 1: 94 (1855)

HOMOTYPIC SYNONYMS

Uvaria burahol Blume in Bijdr. Fl. Ned. Ind.: 14 (1825)

HETEROTYPIC SYNONYMS

Guatteria toralak Blume in Fl. Javae, Anon.: 103 (1830)
Stelechocarpus burahol var. longiflorus Scheff. in Natuurk. Tijdschr. Ned.-Indië 31: 5 (1869)

PUBLICATIONS

Girmansyah, D. & al. (eds.) (2013). Flora of Bali an annotated checklist: 1-158. Herbarium Bogorensis, Indonesia.

Nelson Sutherland, C.H. (2008). Catálogo de las plantes vasculares de Honduras. Espermatofitas: 1-1576. SERNA/Guaymuras, Tegucigalpa, Honduras.

Turner, I.M. (1995). A catalogue of the Vascular Plants of Malaya. Gardens' Bulletin Singapore 47(1): 1-346.

Turner, I.M. (2011). A catalogue of the Annonaceae of Borneo. Phytotaxa 36: 1-120.

VERNACULAR NAME

Indonesian: Kepel, Burahol
Javanese: Kepel, kecindul, simpol, turalok
Sundanese: Nangsi

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

Popular Posts

Yellow garden spider (Argiope appensa)

Yellow garden spider ( Argiope appensa ) is a species of spider in Araneidae that lives on the coast to forests on islands in the western Pacific Ocean. Black and yellow females are striking and have a length of 5.1-6.4 cm including long legs, while males are brown and have a length of about 1.9 cm. A. appensa lives on cliffs in the hills at 600 m above sea level in Kewu plain to rice fields in the lowlands. They make nests at a height of 1.5 meters from the ground between teak ( Tectona grandis ), sonokeling ( Dalbergia latifolia ), sonosiso ( Dalbergia sissoo ), crown flower ( Calotropis gigantea ) and various grasses. Yellow garden spiders grow in large sizes, but are not toxic to humans. Advanced builds ball-shaped nets and most of them make stabilizers which are zigzag-shaped lines in nets made of thicker bands. This species spends more time in stationary and sits in the middle of the net with its head down to wait for insects to be entangled in fine silk thread. Unli...

Skyflower (Duranta erecta)

Sinyo nakal or skyflower ( Duranta erecta ) is plant species in Verbenaceae, a broad shrub or small tree, up to 6 m high, stems growing upright or horizontally with broad clumps, many branches, bark light brown, old tree has axillary spines and grows to form dense colonies. D. erecta has bright green leaves, elliptical to ovoid, pointed or rounded ends, sitting opposite, 7.5 cm long, 3.5 cm wide, a main vein in the middle with several small lateral veins, petiole long 1.5 cm. Flowers are light blue or lavender or white, appear in tight clusters as on terminal stems and axils, often curled or pendulous, blooms in summer. The fruit is a berry having a stalk, small round, yellow or orange or white in color, up to 11 mm in diameter, an eye green in front and containing several seeds. Skyflower grows in dry or humid areas and lots of sun, rocky or sandy beaches, forests, farmland and disturbed places. Plants will grow at a rate of up to half a meter per year. Kingdom: Plantae Phylum:...

Broad-leaved dock (Rumex obtusifolius)

Broad-leaved dock ( Rumex obtusifolius ) is a species of plant in the Polygonaceae, herbaceous perennial, growing broadly, up to 150 cm tall, large, oval-shaped leaves with a heart-shaped base and rounded tip, large taproot with many branches extending to a depth of 150 cm. R. obtusifolius has leaves up to 30 cm long, 15 cm wide and green. Stems are long, hard, alternate, green or reddish in color and unbranched until just below the inflorescence. A main vein in the middle and green or reddish in color. Flat or wavy surface. The inflorescences consist of large clusters of racemes that contain small, greenish flowers that turn red as they mature. Seeds are reddish brown and dry. Broad-leaved dock grows in fertile soils, grasslands, waste lands, roadsides, ditches, coastlines and riverbanks, forest margins, forest clearing and agricultural land. The leaves are used as a salad to make vegetable broth or cooked like spinach. Dried seeds are used as a spice. Kingdom: Plantae Phylum: Tr...