Vasilis Teodoridis:
Santalaceae | Scleropyrum
1. Scleropyrum wallichianum (Wight & Arnott) Arnott; Mag. Zool. Bot. 2: 550. 1838.
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Trees 4-10 m tall. Branches grayish green; strong and thick; smooth; spines sometimes present. Petiole thick; 6-10 mm; leaf blade 9-17 x 5-7 cm; glabrous or sparsely pubescent; abaxially pale green; adaxially deep green; ± glossy; midvein adaxially depressed; abaxially prominent; lateral veins 3 or 4 on each side; lower 2 pairs almost reaching leaf apex; tertiary veins patent and netlike; base subrotund or cuneate; apex obtuse or acute. Inflorescences solitary; paired; or a few in fascicles; 2-2.5 cm; yellow tomentose; bracts narrowly lanceolate; ca. 2 x 0.7 mm; villous abaxially; caducous. Perianth pale yellow to reddish yellow; ca. 3.8 x 5.5 mm; lobes 5; ovate; ca. 2 x 1.5 mm; apex subacute; abaxially villous; hair short near base or tomentose; adaxially with a tuft of hair behind each stamen. Stamen filaments ca. 1.5 mm. Disk depressed in middle; ca. 1.8 mm in diam. Style 0.8-1 mm; stigma shallowly 3- or 4-lobed; sunken in middle. Drupe orange or orange-red when mature; 3-3.5 x 2.3-2.5 cm; glabrous; glossy; apex nipple-like; persistent perianth not conspicuously enlarged; 2-2.5 mm in diam. Fl. Apr-May; fr. Aug-Sep.
Forests; slopes; valleys; 600-1700 m. Guangxi; Hainan; Yunnan [Cambodia; India; Laos; Malaysia; Myanmar; Sri Lanka; Thailand; Vietnam].
The seeds contain more than 67% oil; which is suitable as raw material for lubricants and soap. The young shoots and mature fruits are edible.