Common Name: Nangai

General Information

Canarium harveyi is a medium-size tree with a dense canopy and a short deciduous phase usually in the dry season or at fruit maturity[]. It grows from 10 - 22 metres tall[]
The tree has been exploited for food in the Pacific Islands for hundreds, if not thousands of years and some improved forms have been developed[]. Nangai is commonly grown for food and also to provide shade and shelter around villages and settlements, the seed is sold in local markets and has significant commercial potential on a wider scale[].

Known Hazards

None known

Botanical References

Range

Pacific Islands - Solomon Islands, Vanuatu, Fiji, Tonga, and Niue.

Habitat

Reasonably widespread throughout its native range in lowland rainforest, secondary forest and old garden areas[].

Properties

Edibility Rating
Medicinal Rating
Other Uses Rating
Habit	Deciduous Tree
Height	15.00 m
Self-fertile	No
Cultivation Status	Cultivated, Wild

Cultivation Details

A plant of the lowland, subhumid to humid tropics where temperatures are very warm to hot throughout the year. The mean annual temperature is around 23 - 28°c. The absolute minimum temperature experienced is 8 - 19°c[]. The mean annual rainfall is 1800 - 4000 mm, distributed rather uniformly or with a summer maximum[].
Prefers growing in medium to heavy-textured soils with free to slightly impeded drainage and a circum-neutral pH[].
Trees may be heavily pruned during fruit collection. This results in a low fruit set the following year, followed by a very heavy crop the year after[].
A dioecious species, both male and female forms need to be grown if fruit and seed are required[].

Edible Uses

Edible seed[]. The seed is eaten fresh or roasted, and is also smoked and dried for later use[]. Especially when dried, the nuts can have a rather unpleasant turpentine-like flavour[]. The seeds vary in size, in Vanuatu the average is 42 mm long by 29 mm wide, whilst in the Solomon Islands the seeds average 61 mm long by 33 mm wide[].

Medicinal

The species is recorded as being used in traditional medicine on Malekula and Ambrym[].

Other Uses

In former times and infrequently the oily kernels were used as primitive candles[].

The oleoresin obtained from wounds to the trunk is occasionally used as lighting oil and incense[].

The nut shells are highly flammable and are occasionally used as a cooking fuel[].

The wood is traditionally used to make canoes, bowls etc[]. It may have potential as veneer, as its figure and colour can be very decorative[].

Propagation

Seed -pre-soak in fresh water for 24 hours prior to sowing[]. Discard any nuts that float or that do not sink completely to the bottom[]. Seed should be sown 1 cm deep on their sides directly into large pots or polybags, or 3 - 4 can be sown together direct into the position where the tree is to grow[]. Nursery grown plants are usually ready to plant out when they are about 3 - 5 months old, by which time they should be up to 30cm tall[].
The seed has a short viability and should be sown as soon as possible after collection. If seeds need to stored for a few weeks, then the outer flesh should be removed and the nut-in-shell stored in a shaded, cool (e.g., 15 - 25°C) dry place, secure from rodents and other pests[].

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