Gnetum gnemon L., Mant. 1 (1767)

Synonyms
Gnemon domestica Rumph.
Gnemon silvestris Rumph.
Gnetum acutatum Miq.
Gnetum brunonianum Griff.
Gnetum gnemon var. domesticum MGF
Gnetum gnemon var. laurinum Blume
Gnetum gnemon var. lucidum Blume
Gnetum gnemon var. majusculum Blume
Gnetum gnemon var. stipitatum MGF
Gnetum gnemon var. sylvestris Parl.
Gnetum gnemon var. volubile MGF
Gnetum griffithii Parl.
Gnetum ovalifolium Poir.
Gnetum silvestris Brongn.
Gnetum vinosum Elm.

Description
Shrub to 10 m tall and 17 cm dbh. Stipules absent. Leaves opposite, simple, penni-veined, glabrous, secondary veins conspicuously looping. Flowers ca. 2 mm diameter, yellowish, placed in short racemes. Fruits ca. 20 mm long, yellow-red, drupe.

Ecology
In undisturbed mixed dipterocarp forests up to 300 m altitude. Mostly on hillsides and ridges with clay to sandy soils. In secondary forests usually present as a pre-disturbance remnant tree, however, often cultivated for the fruit.

Uses
The young leaves and inflorescences are used as vegetable. The fruit is used to make a kind of 'krupuk' called 'emping'.

Distribution
From India, Burma and Indo-China to New Guinea and the West-Pacific. In Borneo collected in Sarawak, Sabah, West-, Central- and East-Kalimantan.

Local names
Borneo: Sabong.