Skip to main content

Candlenut (Aleurites moluccanus)

Kemiri or candlenut (Aleurites moluccanus) is a plant species in Euphorbiaceae, a large tree, up to 40 meters high, up to 1.5 m in diameter, gray bark and slightly rough lenticell, widespread in tropical areas, seeds are used as source of oil and spices.

A. moluccanus has young leaves, twigs and flowers adorned with stellar hair that is dense, short and silver in color as if it is dusted with flour. Large tree canopy appears whitish or silvery in the distance.

Dlium Candlenut (Aleurites moluccanus)


Single leaf, alternating, dark green, stalk has a length of up to 30 cm with a pair of glands at the tip. Leaflets are round or egg-shaped or oval or triangular, diameter up to 30 cm, heart-shaped base, 3-5 triangles at the ends and bones are traced only at first.

The flowers are in thyrsoid panicles in the terminal or at the tip of the armpits and 10-20 cm long. White flowers, short stems, females at the end of the extra umbrella panicles, males have a smaller size, bloom first and have more numbers. The lancet-shaped crown, 5 parts, 6-7 mm long in males and 9-10 mm in females.

Fruit slightly ovate and somewhat flattened, 5-6x4-7 cm, olive green outside with velvet hair, whitish flesh and not broken. Each fruit has 1-2 seeds, wrapped in a hard and thick shell, slightly flattened, up to 3x3 cm with whitish pieces and rich in oil.

Seeds are widely used as a cooking spice and thick sauce which is eaten with vegetables and rice. The ripe fruit is processed into a paste and used as a fertilizer for hair, soap and shampoo. Seed core contains 60-66% oil. Each tree will produce about 30-80 kg every year and 15-20% of the weight is oil.





Oil is used to preserve wood, varnish or paint, coating paper to be waterproof, soap ingredients, a mixture of insulation materials, rubber substitutes, low-quality fuels and others. Wood is very light and whitish in color, often used for small appliances, lighters, handicrafts, firewood and pulp.

Kingdom: Plantae
Phylum: Tracheophyta
Subphylum: Angiospermae
Class: Magnoliopsida
Order: Malpighiales
Family: Euphorbiaceae
Genus: Aleurites
Species: Aleurites moluccanus

Popular Posts

Indian shot (Canna indica)

Puspa midra or Indian shot ( Canna indica ) is is plant species in Cannaceae, annual, shrub 0.5-2.5 meters high, depending on variety, erect stems, unbranched and leaf midrib arranged overlapping to form pseudostems and hermaphrodite flowers. C. indica forms a branched rhizome, 60 cm long which is divided into rounded segments and is covered in two stripes by pale green or purple scaly leaves. The rhizome has tubers that contain very large starch grains. The surface has transverse furrows, the underside appears white roots and numerous shoots. The leaves sit alternate and spiral or arranged in two rows, very large and divided into a leaf midrib, short stalk and blade. The strands are 30-60 cm long, 10-20 cm wide and have linear veins, green or purple-green, the base blunt or narrowly pointed and the apex immediately tapering or sharp. Hermaphrodite flowers, pedicels 0.2-1 cm long and red or yellow-orange, except in some cultivars 4.5-7.5 cm long. The sepals are triangular in shape a...

Guinea grass (Panicum maximum)

Guinea grass or buffalo grass or green panic ( Panicum maximum ) is a plant species in Poaceae, annual grasses, growing upright to form clumps, strong, cultivated in all tropical and subtropical regions for very high value as fodder. P. maximum reproduces in very large pols, fibrous roots penetrate into the soil, upright stems, green, 1-1.5 m tall and have smooth cavities for diameters up to 2.5 mm. Propagation is done vegetatively and generatively. Ribbon-shaped leaves with a pointed tip, very many, built in lines, green, 40-105 cm long, 10-30 mm wide, erect, branched, a white linear bone, often covered with a layer of white wax, rough surface by hair short, dense and spread. The flower grows at the end of a long and upright stalk, open with the main axis length to more than 25 cm and the length of the bunches down to 20 cm. Grains have a size of 3x4 mm and oval. Seeds have a length of 2.25-2.50 mm and each 1 kg contains 1.2 - 1.5 million seeds. Guinea grass has two varieties. P...

Indian rosewood (Dalbergia latifolia)

Sonokeling or Java palisandre or Indian rosewood ( Dalbergia latifolia ) is a species of plant in the Fabaceae, a large tree producing hardwood, medium weight and high quality, rounded leaves, thin and broad pods, highly adaptive, grows in dry and rocky landscapes with lots of sunlight. D. latifolia has medium to large size, cylindrical stems, up to 40 m high with a ring of up to 2 m, the bark is brownish gray and slightly cracked longitudinally. The crown is dense, dome-shaped and sheds leaves. The leaves are compound and pinnate oddly with 5-7 strands that have different sizes and appear alternately on the shaft. The leaves are round or elongated in width or heart, the upper surface is green and the surface is pale green. The flowers are small, 0.5-1 cm long and clustered in panicles. The pods are green to brown when ripe and are elongated lanceolate, pointed at the base and tip. The pods have 1-4 seeds which are soft and brownish. Indian rosewood grows at elevations below 600 m,...