Spondias dulcis G.Forst.

Often a Golden apple tree grows to a large tree which can be up to 30 m high but is more often 15 m high in cultivation. It has a trunk 60 cm across which can have buttresses. The bark on the trunk of the tree is fairly smooth. The twigs break off easily. The wood is soft and not much use. The leaf is made up of 4 to 12 pairs of leaflets which have fine teeth around the edge. The leaves are 20-30 cm long. The leaves are smooth and dark green on top and pale green underneath. The leaves are alternate. The leaves of the tree fall off for a part of the year. The old leaves wither to a bright yellow colour. The flowers are produced near the ends of the branches and mostly the flowers develop before the new young leaves grow. The flowers occur as several flowers on long stalks. The flower panicle is 15 to 30 cm long. The flowers are small and white. They look something like a mango flower. The fruit is yellow, oval and up to 7 cm long and 4 cm across. Sometimes the outside of the fruit has a mottled black colour. There is one large stone inside divided into 5 cells with a seed in each. The stone is branched and has fibres.

It is a tropical plant. They occur in well drained soils or in dry forests. It occurs in the lowland rainforest and in valleys up to about 950 m altitude in the equatorial tropics. It suits humid locations. They suit warm tropical and subtropical climates and are frost tender. Flowering is normally during the dry season. This may be important for fruit set. The trees also grow in Indonesia, the Philippines, Thailand and a number of other Pacific countries. It has also been taken to other tropical countries. This species covers a full range from being a wild un-utilised tree in some areas to a planted, pruned and highly regarded village fruit tree in other areas. It is better suited to deeper alluvial soils and rarely occurs on limestone with a thin clay soil cover. Trees often grow as a pioneer tree on landslides. The wild trees are probably spread around by birds, pigs and people.

Fruit are eaten after peeling. They are eaten raw or pickled. The fruit are also dried and used in curries. The young leaves are edible raw or cooked. They are used as a souring agent. The kernel of the seed may be edible. (Some fruit are poor size and very sour.) The fruit are also used for sweet drinks and made into jams and chutneys. Green fruit are pickled.

Trees are mostly grown from seed and often grows wild. Flowers are bisexual and there are no apparent pollination problems. The seeds do not produce true to type so that poor and sour fruit are often produced. Seed normally germinate within one month. It is possible to grow plants from cuttings although it is difficult. Large cuttings should be used. Doing this would enable better types of fruit to be re-grown. It can also be grown using budding. Seedling trees are larger and more vigorous than budded or grafted trees. Tree spacing varies from 7.5 m to 12 m. Young trees benefit by shade during their first year. The top can be cut off trees to give a lower and more spreading tree. Large cuttings can be used with difficulty. Trees can be topped to give a lower tree with spreading branches.