Aleurites moluccanus, the candlenut, is a flowering tree in the spurge family, Euphorbiaceae, also known as candleberry, Indian walnut, kemiri, varnish tree, nuez de la India, buah keras, godou, kukui nut tree, and rata kekuna.
Description
The candlenut grows to a height of up to , with wide spreading or pendulous branches. The leaves are pale green, simple, and ovate or heart-shaped on mature shoots, but may be three-, five-, or seven-lobed on saplings. They are up to long and wide and young leaves are densely clothed in rusty or cream stellate hairs. Petioles measure up to long and stipules about .
Flowers are small—male flowers measure around in diameter, female flowers about .
The fruit is a drupe about in diameter with one or two lobes; each lobe has a single soft, white, oily, kernel contained within a hard shell which is about in diameter. The kernel is the source of candlenut oil.
Taxonomy
This plant was first described by Carl Linnaeus in his work Species Plantarum (Sp. Pl. 2: 1006 (1753)) in 1753 as Jatropha moluccana. It was renamed as Aleurites moluccana in 1805 by Carl Ludwig Willdenow in a later edition of Species Plantarum (Sp. Pl. 4: 590 (1805)), but the ending was corrected to match the gender of the Latin genus Aleurites moluccanus.
Note
While there are many online references to the name "Aleurites moluccana", this is not a name that is accepted by botanic authorities such as the International Plant Names Index (IPNI) or the Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN).
Etymology
The genus name derives from the Ancient Greek (), meaning "flour" or "meal", and refers to the new growth which appears to be dusted with flour. The species epithet means "from the Moluccas".
Distribution and habitat
Distribution
Its native range is impossible to establish precisely because of early spread by humans, and the tree is now distributed throughout the New and Old World tropics.
The candlenut was first domesticated on the islands of Southeast Asia. Remains of harvested candlenuts have been recovered from archaeological sites in Timor and Morotai in eastern Indonesia, dated to around 13,000 and 11,000 BP, respectively. Archaeological evidence of candlenut cultivation is also found in Neolithic sites of the Toalean culture in southern Sulawesi dated to around 3,700 to 2,300 BP. Candlenuts were widely introduced into the Pacific islands by early Austronesian voyagers and became naturalized to high volcanic islands.
Habitat
A. moluccanus grows in tropical rainforests and gallery forests. It is a very fast-growing tree and often appears in disturbed rainforest. In Australia the altitudinal range is from sea level to .
Ecology
In Australia the seeds are eaten by rodents, in particular the giant white-tailed rat. The broken shells of the fruits are often found underneath the trees.
The larvae of the coleopteran Agrianome fairmairei feed on dead candlenut wood, and are considered a delicacy in New Caledonia.
Names
The Proto-Austronesian word for candlenut is reconstructed as *kamiri, with modern cognates including Hanunó'o, Iban, and Sundanese muncang; Javanese and Malay kemiri; and Tetun kamii, however the Oceanian words for candlenut is believed to be derived from Proto-Austronesian *CuSuR which became Proto-Malayo-Polynesian *tuhuR, originally meaning "string together, as beads", referring to the construction of the candlenut torches. It became Proto-Eastern-Malayo-Polynesian and Proto-Oceanic *tuRi which is then reduplicated. Modern cognates including Fijian, Tongan, Rarotongan, and Niue tui-tui; and Hawaiian kui-kui or kukui.
The Malay language in both has another name given to the nut which is buah keras (literally "hard fruit").
Uses
Both the nut and the oil that can be extracted from it are used. While mildly toxic when raw, the nut is appreciated in many cultures once cooked or toasted. In Indonesian and Malaysian cuisine, it is commonly used in curries, and on the Indonesian island of Java, it is used to make a thick sauce that is eaten with vegetables and rice.
Wealthier members among the Batak people have their coffins (Karo: pelangkah) made from the wood of Aleurites moluccanus, carved in the shape of a boat whose bow is decorated with the carved head of a hornbill, a horse, or a mythical beast known as a singa.