Tamanu — Calophyllum inophyllum

The tamanu does not hide from the coast. It grows right at the edge of it: on sandy shores, facing the wind, in full sun, with salt on its leaves. It is one of the great trees of the Indo-Pacific shoreline.

What the tree knows

Its leaves are glossy and leathery, a surface that sheds salt spray and slows water loss. Its roots hold sandy ground. It carries white, lightly scented flowers and round green fruits, each with a single hard seed. The kernel yields a thick, dark green oil, long known along Pacific and Southeast Asian coasts.

A plant that survives the shoreline has already answered most of our questions.

The names

Tamanu in Polynesia, kamani in Hawai‘i, nyamplung in Indonesia: one tree, many languages, the same shoreline.

The file

• Botanical name — Calophyllum inophyllum L. (Calophyllaceae)
• Range — coasts from East Africa and India through Southeast Asia and Australia to the Pacific islands
• Conditions it endures — sand, wind, salt spray, full sun
• Part studied — the seed oil
• Status at YNFUSE — under study