Manila tamarind
Pithecellobium dulce (Roxb.) Benth.
Manila tamarind (Pithecellobium dulce) is a legume shade tree native to tropical America; the spirally twisted red pods hold black seeds wrapped in a sweet-tart white aril, made into a refreshing drink in Mexico; widely planted across the tropics, including Vietnam.
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Manila tamarind — Edible aril (product)Manila tamarind — Tree
Manila tamarind — Leaves
Manila tamarind — Flowers
Manila tamarind — Fruit
Manila tamarind — Trunk & barkManila tamarind — Edible aril (product)Manila tamarind — TreeOverview
Manila tamarind (Pithecellobium dulce (Roxb.) Benth.), also called Madras thorn, camachile or monkeypod, is a semi-evergreen tree of the legume family (Fabaceae), native to the Pacific coast of Mexico, Central America and northern South America; it reached Asia on the Manila galleons and is now planted across the tropics. It grows 5–20 m tall with a broad crown, drooping branches and short sharp stipular spines on trunk and branches. The bipinnate leaves are peculiar: each secondary stalk bears a single pair of leaflets, giving a butterfly-wing look; leaflets ovate-oblong with an oblique base.
Updated by lebachungtdh@gmail.com · 10/10/2026
The small creamy-white to pale yellow flowers, masses of silky stamens, cluster in heads with a light fragrance, attracting bees and butterflies. The fruit is a flat pod 10–15 cm long, spirally coiled into rings like 'jalebi'; when ripe the fleshy wall turns red to reddish-brown and exposes glossy black seeds wrapped in a thick white aril, edible with a pleasant sweet-sour taste. The tree tolerates drought and salt, grows fast with deep roots; the brown, moderately hard wood is used for fuel and charcoal. In Mexico the arils are made into a refreshing 'agua de guamúchil'; in Vietnam the tree is planted for shade and as living hedges in dry provinces such as Binh Thuan and Ninh Thuan.
Updated by lebachungtdh@gmail.com · 10/10/2026
Life cycle
From seed to productTree
A broad-crowned tree with drooping branches and sharp spines.
Leaves
Bipinnate leaves with one leaflet pair per stalk.
Flowers
Creamy flowers with silky stamens in heads.
Fruit
Red coiled pod with black seeds in white arils.
Distribution & origin
Share of recorded occurrences by region- Mexico & Central America (native)35%
- Northern South America15%
- Philippines & Southeast Asia (planted, incl. Vietnam)25%
- India & South Asia (planted)10%
- Caribbean, Florida, Hawaii & Africa (naturalised)15%
Chemical composition
Relative content in agarwood resin- Water65%
- Sugars20%
- Fibre4%
- Protein3%
- Fats1%
- Minerals & vitamin C7%
Uses
- Food: sweet white aril eaten raw or made into 'agua de guamúchil' drink in Mexico; pleasant sweet-sour taste
- Ornamental: street shade tree, parks and thorny living hedges in dry areas; salt-tolerant near coasts
- Wood & by-products: moderately hard brown wood for fuel and charcoal; protein-rich leaves as fodder for ruminants
- Folk medicine: bark and leaves used against dysentery, diarrhoea and fever in the Americas and India
Properties
- Form
- Semi-evergreen tree
- Product
- Edible aril, wood, fodder leaves
- Hallmark
- Red coiled pods + sweet white aril
- Uses
- Shade, hedges, drinks, fuelwood
Habitat & conservation
Manila tamarind is native to the Pacific coast of Mexico, Central America and northern South America; it was introduced to the Philippines on the Manila galleons, then spread across the tropics: India, Southeast Asia (including Vietnam), the Caribbean, Florida, Hawaii and eastern Africa. The tree loves full sun, tolerates drought and salt extremely well, and grows on dry and coastal sandy soils; in Vietnam it is common in central and southern coastal provinces as a shade tree and living hedge.
Conservation
Assessed by IUCN as Least Concern (LC), wide range and widely planted across the tropics. Legume family (Fabaceae), genus Pithecellobium.
References
- 1Plants of the World Online — Pithecellobium dulce (Roxb.) Benth. — Kew Science, 2026
- 2Pithecellobium dulce (Manila tamarind) — mô tả, phân bố, sử dụng — Wikipedia tiếng Anh, 2026
- 3Me nước hay còn gọi me keo, găng tây — Wikipedia tiếng Việt — Wikipedia tiếng Việt, 2026
- 4牛蹄豆 Pithecellobium dulce — 形态、利用 — Wikipedia tiếng Trung, 2026
- 5Nguồn ảnh: Dick Culbert (CC BY 2.0) / Forest and Kim Starr (CC BY 3.0 US) / Wilfredor (CC0) — Wikimedia Commons,
- 6Nguồn ảnh: Forest and Kim Starr (CC BY 3.0 US) — bổ sung lá, hoa, vỏ — Wikimedia Commons,