Skip to main content

Bignay (Antidesma bunius)

Bignay or buni (Antidesma bunius) is a plant species in Phyllanthaceae, deciduous trees, up to 30 m tall, straight stems and 20-25 cm in diameter, many branches and shade, small fruits arranged in a long stalk, eaten raw or deep cooking or fermented into grapes.

A. bunius has leaves with 1 cm long stalks, alternating, oblong-lanceolate, 19-25 cm long, 4-10 cm wide, rounded base, sharp or blunt tip, flat margins, dark green and shiny upper surface, bright lower surface, a main bone runs in the middle and appears on the underside of the leaf.

Dlium Bignay (Antidesma bunius)


Male and female flowers are located in different trees and arranged in the form of panicles 6-20 cm long. Female flower size is larger than male flowers. Terminal or axillary and narrowly spicate or racemose.

Male flowers sit, cupular petals consisting of 3-4 short rounded petals, 3-4 stamens and reddish in color. Female flowers have a stalk, bell-shaped petals, 3-4 lobes measuring 1x2 mm, ovary ovoid, 3-4 pistil heads with small discs.

Wet and drupe fruit, round or ovoid and 8-10 mm in diameter. First it is bright green with a sour taste, then red and bluish black with a sweet taste. Fruit arranged in bunches with a diameter of 3 cm. Elongated ovate seeds, 6-8 mm long and 4.5-5.5 mm wide.

Bignay grows wild in the tropics at an altitude of 0-1000 m, tolerant of drought and damp. Fresh edible fruit, jam and jelly ingredients, extracts for refreshing drinks and produce special wine. Sometimes used to mix cold drinks. Young fruit and young leaves are used as a substitute for vinegar.



Young leaves to give aroma to fish or boiled meat, fresh vegetables and cooked with rice. Bark and leaves contain alkaloids which have medicinal properties, but are also poisonous. The wood is reddish, hard and has a pretty good quality.

Kingdom: Plantae
Phylum: Tracheophyta
Subphylum: Angiospermae
Class: Magnoliopsida
Order: Malpighiales
Family: Phyllanthaceae
Genus: Antidesma
Species: Antidesma bunius

Popular Posts

Cogon grass (Imperata cylindrica)

Cogon grass ( Imperata cylindrica ) is a species of plant in the Poaceae, an annual grass, sharp leaves, long and scaly shoots, creeping underground, white or purplish flowers, very adaptive and grows in all climates. I. cylindrica has sharply pointed shoot tips that emerge from the ground, up to 3 meters high, short stems, rising above the ground surface. Leaves are long ribbon-shaped, pointed tip, narrow base, up to 100 cm long, very rough and sharply serrated edges, long hairs at the base and wide veins. Inflorescences in panicles, up to 28 cm long, spikes long-haired and white to 1 cm. The seeds spread quickly with the wind or via rhizomes that quickly penetrate the soil. This species grows in tropical to subtropical areas, elevation up to 2000 meters, temperature 20-40C, rainfall 500-3500 mm/year, pH 4-7.5, lots of sunlight to a bit of shade. This plant dominates open land, former forests, dry rice fields, roadsides and so on. This plant contains mannitol, glucose, sacharose...

Dadmari (Ammannia baccifera)

Dadmari ( Ammannia baccifera ) is a species of plant in the Lythraceae, an erect, branched herb, up to 50 cm tall, with slightly angular stems and narrow, oblong leaves about 3.5 cm long. The flowers are about 1.2 mm long, greenish or purplish, and grow in dense axillary clusters. TAXON Kingdom: Plantae Phylum: Tracheophyta Subphylum: Angiospermae Class: Magnoliopsida Order: Myrtales Family: Lythraceae Genus: Ammannia L. in Sp. Pl.: 119 (1753) Species: Ammannia baccifera L. in Sp. Pl.: 120 (1753) HOMOTYPIC SYNONYMS Ammannia baccifera f. genuina Koehne in Bot. Jahrb. Syst. 1: 260 (1880) Ammannia baccifera f. typica Koehne (1880) HETEROTYPIC SYNONYMS Celosia bicolor Blanco in Fl. Filip.: 191 (1837) Celosia nana Blanco (1837) Ammannia apiculata Koehne (1880) Ammannia attenuata Hochst. ex A.Rich. in Tent. Fl. Abyss. 1: 278 (1848) Ammannia attenuata var. latifolia Koehne (1880) Ammannia attenuata var. micromerioides Chiov. in Bull. Soc. Bot. Ital. 1917: 27 (1917) Ammannia attenuata f. pe...

Liberian coffee (Coffea liberica)

Liberian coffee ( Coffea liberica ) is a species of plant in the Rubiaceae family, a tree up to 20 meters tall, with numerous, radial and irregular branches, brown bark, and linear fissures. The leaves are oval, thick, up to 35 cm long, up to 20 cm long, shiny green, and have petioles up to 1 cm long. The fruit is round to oval, irregular, and up to 2 cm wide. TAXON Kingdom: Plantae Phylum: Tracheophyta Subphylum: Angiospermae Class: Magnoliopsida Order: Gentianales Family: Rubiaceae Subfamily: Ixoroideae Tribe: Coffeeae Genus: Coffea L. in Sp. Pl.: 172 (1753) Species: Coffea liberica W.Bull in Nursery Cat. (William Bull) 97: 4 (1874) HETEROTYPIC SYNONYMS Coffea abeokutae Cramer in Meded. Dept. Landb. Ned.-Indië 11: 286, 396 (1913) Coffea abeokutae var. camerunensis A.Chev. in Encycl. Biol. 22: t. 44 (1942) Coffea abeokutae var. indeniensis (Siebert) A.Chev. (1942) Coffea abeokutae var. longicarpa Portères in Ann. Agric. Afrique Occ. 1(2): 224 (1937) Coffea abeokutae var. macrocarpa...