Description
The fruit shape of Wood Apple resembles an apple and the name wood apple is due to the fruit hard shell. Native to India, the tree is cultivated in other countries such in Pakistan, Sri-Lanka, and Bangladesh. The fruit is also known as Elephant-apple, Monkey fruit, or Crud fruit.
Wood apple is an erect, slow-growing tree with a few upward-reaching branches bending outward near the summit where they are subdivided into slender branchlets drooping at the tips. The bark is ridged, fissured and scaly.
The deciduous, alternate leaves, 3 to 5 in long, dark-green, leathery, often minutely toothed, blunt or notched at the apex, are dotted with oil glands and slightly lemon-scented when crushed. Yellowish green flowers, tinged with red, are borne in small, loose, terminal or lateral panicles. The tree is mostly known for its hard woody fruit, size of a tennis ball, round to oval in shape. The pulp is brown, mealy, odorous, resinous, astringent, acid or sweetish, with numerous small, white seeds scattered through it.
Plant Specifications
*above specification are indicative only. actual dimensions may vary by +-10%
| Common Name |
Curd Fruit, Elephant Apple, Monkey Fruit and Wood Apple. |
| Maximum Reachable Height |
75 to 100 feet |
| Flower Colour |
Yellowish-green |
| Bloom Time |
May to June |
| Difficulty Level |
Easy to grow |
Planting and care
Fertilize your wood apple plant every year with organic fertilizer during August. Prune the tree every year to maintain its shape and size.Prune out the damaged and diseased branches.Water the plant regularly.Wood Apple care
It can be propagated by Seed, Root Cuttings, Air layering or by Budding onto the seedling stock.
Mostly cultivated by seeds. Seeds require 10-25 degrees C temperature to germinate. Sow seeds of wood apple in well-drained loamy soil during Feb-April. Seeds will germinate in 2-3 weeks. Water the seeds regularly until the plant fully established.Transplant the seedlings in the field at a spacing of 10m*10m. Fertilize your plant with any organic fertilizer during August.
| Sunlight |
Full sun to partial shade. |
| Watering |
Moderately |
| Soil |
Well-drained and fertile loamy soil. |
| Temperature |
15-30 degrees C |
| Fertilizer |
Apply any organic fertilizer |
| Harvest Season |
March |
Wood Apple special feature
Large deciduous tree for large landscapes. It is a tree of Vishakha Nakshatra.
Wood Apple uses
Ornamental Use:
- This tree can be used for avenue planting
Medicinal Use:
- The fruit contains fruit acids, vitamins, and minerals
- It is used mainly as a liver tonic to stimulate the digestive system
- The fruit is also astringent, especially when unripe, and a cardiac tonic
- The pulp of the fruit, especially when unripe, is used in the treatment of diarrhea and dysentery
- The fruit is also seen as an effective treatment for hiccough, sore throat, and diseases of the gums
- Both the fruit pulp and the powdered rind can be applied onto bites and stings of venomous insects
- Use only as per doctors prescription
Culinary Use:
- Fruits of wood apple are aromatic and sour-sweet, they can be eaten raw, or made into jellies, jams, chutneys, sherbets, etc
- It can be blended with coconut milk and palm-sugar syrup and drunk as a beverage, or frozen like ice cream
