Dillenia pentagyna fruit

What it is

Dillenia pentagyna bears fleshy fruit only a few centimetres across. It turns orange at maturity and stays closed, keeping its seeds inside. The seeds lack a separate fleshy covering. In India's northern Western Ghats the tree goes by chota-karmal; in Laos it is tone pheng or tone san thip.

Where it comes from

This is a tree of South and Southeast Asia, growing from India through Myanmar, Thailand and neighbouring countries into southern China. Its range also reaches Java, the Lesser Sunda Islands and southern Sulawesi in Indonesia.

It grows in open forest and savanna. In Java it grows especially in teak forest, up to 850 m (2,790 ft) above sea level. There it is called sempu; in Sulawesi, tawro.

How it's eaten where it grows

In Laos, tone pheng fruit goes into cooking as a vegetable, and sometimes the flower buds do too. In Odisha's Kuldiha Wildlife Sanctuary, the tree is called Kirmilla. There, both the buds and young fruit are eaten raw or cooked for their pleasantly sharp taste.

In India and Thailand, the acidic fruit also becomes drinks and jams. Curries and jellies are other ways of using it.

How it's grown

The tree sheds its leaves, then puts clusters of bright yellow flowers on the bare branches. Its trunk is often crooked, with grey bark that peels away in thin scales.

The small fruit comes from a tree with outsized leaves. Its leaves are largest when young, reaching 100 cm (39 in) long and 25 cm (10 in) wide. Young leaves are hairy, becoming smooth as they age.

When and where you'll find it

In India's northern Western Ghats, chota-karmal fruit is usually in season from March through June and is eaten fresh. In Laos the flower buds are sometimes cooked too, and in Odisha the buds and young fruit are eaten, so the harvest includes more than ripe orange fruit.