Stelechocarpus burahol Hook.f et Th.

Erect evergreen tree, up to 25 m tall. Trunk up to 40 cm in diameter, dark grey-brown to black, characteristically covered with numerous thick tubercles. Leaves elliptic-oblong to ovate-lanceolate, 12-27 cm x 5-9 cm, dark green, glabrous, thin leathery; petiole up to 1.5 cm long. Flowers unisexual, green turning whitish, fascicled on tubercles; male flowers on upper trunk and older branches, 8-16 together, up to 1 cm in diameter; female flowers only on the lower part of the trunk, up to 3 cm in diameter. Fruit with 1-13 berry-like ripe carpels, fruit stalk up to 8 cm long; ripe carpels almost globose, brownish, 5-6 cm in diameter; pericarp brown, juicy, edible. Seeds ellipsoid, 4-6, ca. 3 cm long.

In Java the trees normally flower in September-October, although off-season flowering does occur; the fruit ripens 6 months later, mainly in March-April. The female flowers are borne on the trunk and older portions of branches, and are visited by bees, ants and sometimes by butterflies.

Kepel occurs wild on deep, moist clay soils in secondary forest in Java. It is cultivated as a fruit tree at elevations up to 600 m, and fruits at 18 deg. South in Queensland. It grows well among bamboo clumps where other trees would not be able to compete.

Cultivation of S. burahol seems to be limited to Java.

Kepel is commonly propagated by seed taken from mature fruits and sown immediately. Cuttings and air layers have been tried without success. The seed is cleaned by washing and is dried under shade. Before sowing the seed is scarified, but germination may still take many months. Eventually a high percentage of the seeds does germinate. Germination is hypogeal, the taproot swollen and unbranched for some time. Initially seedlings are slow-growing.

At the 3-5-leaf stage the seedlings are potted up. When they reach a height of 0.5-1.0 m, the seedlings are transplanted into the field at 8-10 m apart. The juvenile phase lasts 6-9 years. There is usually a flush of shoot growth after harvest and another preceding bloom; each flush lasts about 2 months, during which shoots extend 2-7 leaves. Percentage fruit set is high and kepel crops fairly reliably. Irregular rainy season weather is the main cause of variation in yield. A mature tree yields 1000-1500 fruit per year. The fruit is mature if scratching its skin reveals a yellow or light brown colour underneath (if green, the fruit is still immature).

No serious pests and diseases have been reported, but the trees have to be guarded against bats and rodents.

Ornamental: Kepel is a beautiful ornamental tree, the leaves of a flush changing from light pink into a burgundy red colour before turning a brilliant green. The tree habit, cylindrical or pyramidal with large numbers of systematically arranged lateral branches, and the cauliflory, add to the attraction.

Food: Ripe fruit is eaten fresh. Medicine: Medicinally the pulp is a diuretic, prevents kidney inflammation, and causes sterility (temporarily) in women. Timber: The wood is suitable for household articles; the straight trunk, after immersion in water for several months, is used in house building and is said to last for more than 50 years. Other products: It is said that the orange, juicy pulp of the fruit gives the fragrance of violets to body excretions (urine, transpiration, breath). Hence it served aristocratic ladies as a perfume and a family-planning agent; in Java its use was traditionally restricted to the consorts of the sultan of Jogja.