Fruit & Nut Trees

Silengkeng

Silengkeng -- written 'Seelengkeng' in Morton's older account and 'Sileng Keng' in the USDA Hilo germplasm listing -- is an Indonesian selection named for its resemblance to longan (lengkeng), with small smooth-spined fruit that Chinese buyers in colonial Java prized and paid a premium for. Its modern significance is entirely different and arguably more important: University of Hawaii research found that Silengkeng was the only cultivar in their plantings whose panicles produced large numbers of hermaphrodite functionally male flowers throughout the anthesis period, making it the natural pollinator for an orchard of otherwise female-functioning clones. It also flowers over a longer window and puts out more panicles than its neighbours, which extends the pollen supply. Growers in Hawaii are advised to interplant Silengkeng rather than rely on NAA sprays, and that role has kept a fruit of only modest commercial value in cultivation.Read more

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