A large shrub to small twiggy tree, up to 10 feet high; older branches yellowish, fissured with loose bark. Leaves 2 to 3 inches long, 3-veined from the base, oval, obtuse to sharp pointed at the tip, densely gray or rarely yellowish-hairy beneath, entire, with wide leafstalk. Flowers 3/4 to 1 inch wide, solitary or two to three; petals tinged white outside with purplish-pink or all pink. Fruit purple, round, 3-celled, capped with persistent calyx lobes, about 1/2 inch wide, soft with double row of seeds in each cell, edible. Seeds triangular.

Astringent (fruit)

PROSEA (Plant Resources of South-East Asia) Foundation

Betulin, betulinic acid (leaf)

Used as a cure for dysentery and diarrhoea (fruits); drunk for diarrhoea and stomachache, and as a protective medicine after birth (decoction of roots or leaves); used to dress wounds (crushed leaves).