Flacourtia inermis Roxb., Pl. Coromandel 3: 16 (1811)

Synonyms
Flacourtia lanceolata Sloot.
Flacourtia quintuplinervis Turcz.
Flacourtia rindjanica Sloot.

Diagnostics
Unarmed tree, up to 15 m tall, trunk up to 35 cm diameter. Leaves ovate-oblong to ovate-elliptic, 8-20 cm x 4-12 cm, toothed margin. Fruit a globose berry, 2-2.5 cm in diameter, pink to red.

Description
Unarmed tree, (3-)5-15 m; trunk usually crooked, gnarled and furrowed, up to 35 cm; bark brown or grey, rather smooth; young branchlets pubescent to nearly tomentose, brownish, laxly beset with pallid subrotundate lenticels. Leaves ovate-oblong to ovate-elliptic, attenuate- acuminate, broadly cuneate or rarely rounded at the base, firmly chartaceous, glabrous but always puberulous at the midrib on both surfaces, olivaceous to brown when dry, coarsely to slightly crenate, 8-14(-20) by (4-)5-8(-12) cm; midrib little prominent above, distinctly so beneath, nerves 5-6(-7) pahs, curved-ascending, but not interarching, little prominent above, distinctly so beneath, veins transverse and distinct, reticulations rather dense, well visible but little prominent; petiole stoutish, 8-10(-12) mm, manifestly pubescent. Racemes short, sometimes nearly reduced to fascicles, 1-1.5 cm, puberulous, with several small bracts at the base. Pedicels slender, 4-10 mm, finely pubescent. Sepals (3-)4-5, ovate, obtuse, nearly glabrous or little pubescent outside, densely pilose inside, c. 2.5 mm. Stamens 15-25, sometimes not fully developed; filaments glabrous, 2.5 mm. Disk +/- manifestly 6-8-lobed. Ovary ovoid, contracted apically; styles 4-5, slightly reflexed and enlarged into disciform or cuneate, bilobed stigmas. Fruit globose, pink to red, c. 2-2.5 cm diam., adstringent, crowned by the compact styles or their rests, usually with remains of stamens or filaments at the base; pyrenes 8-10. [from Flora Malesiana]

Ecology
Cultivated as a fruit tree up to 1300 m altitude, also on sandy and coastal soils.

Uses
The fruits are eaten raw but are often acid or astringent; they are excellent for making jams, syrup and preserves. The timber is used in Halmahera.

Distribution
Only known in a cultivated or semi-cultivated state, widespread from India through Malesia to New Britain. Now also cultivated in tropical Africa and America.

Local names
English: Governor plum.
India: loika, lavalolikka (Kerala).
Indonesia: lobi-lobi, tomi-tomi.
Malaysia: rukam masam, lovi-lovi.
Philippines: lovi-lovi, batoko plum.
Thailand: takhop-thai (Central).