WorldFloraDB - Thaumatococcus daniellii

Characteristics

A herb which forms rhizomes. It has a short stem bearing a single leaf. The leaves are 30-60 cm long and 40 cm wide and dark green. They are on leaf stalks up to 75 cm long. These grow from the rhizome. The flowers are in a raceme with branched flowers around a central stalk. This is 10 cm long. The fruit are triangular capsules. The fruit are red. They are produced on 15 cm long stalks which come from the base. The fruit are 3 cm across. They have 3 sections. The seed are 3 sided. They have a white aril or layer around them.

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Spikes arising from the base, rough with the scars of fallen flowers, the latter pale purple

Fruit crimson, at or below ground-level

Seeds black, hard, shining

Rhizome slender, creeping

A herb up to 10 ft. high

Life form	perennial
Growth form	herb
Growth support	-
Foliage retention	evergreen
Sexuality	hermaphrodite
Pollination	-
Spread	-
Mature width (meter)	-
Mature height (meter)	2.0
Root system	rhizome
Rooting depth (meter)	0.5
Root diameter (meter)	-
Flower color	-
Blooming months	-
Fruit color
Fruiting months	-
Nitrogen fixer	-
Photosynthetic pathway	-

Environment

A tropical plant. It needs warm, sheltered, frost free sites. It grows in lowland tropical rainforest. It suits humid locations.

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Tropical lowland rainforest. Forest clearings.

In large clumps in forest.

Light
Soil humidity
Soil texture
Soil acidity
Soil nutriment	-
Hardiness (USDA)

Usage

The fruit are used to sweeten food or drink. It can be used to sweeten bread, palm wine, and tea. The seed are chewed and are very sweet. The leaves are employed as food wrappers. They also add flavour.

Uses	environmental use food gene source material medicinal social use tea
Edible	arils fruits leaves seeds
Therapeutic use	Sweetener (unspecified)
Human toxicity	-
Animal toxicity	-

Cultivation

It can be grown from seed or division of the rhizome. Plants are spaced 1 m apart.

Mode	cuttings seedlings
Germination duration (days)	-
Germination temperacture (C°)	-
Germination luminosity	-
Germination treatment	-
Minimum temperature (C°)	-
Optimum temperature (C°)	21 - 30
Size	-
Vigor	-
Productivity	-