Kamias
Averrhoa bilimbi · Bilimbi
- Names in the 1901 book
- Kamias, Kalamias, Tag.; Kilingiwa, Vis.; Pias, Iloc.
- Names in the 1985 book
- English: Ginger Lily; Tagalog: Kalamias, Iba, Kolonawas, Kolonanas, Kamias; Ilocano: Pias; Visayan: Iba, Kalinguis
- Colours
- flowercrimson, purplefruitgreen
- Native range
- Probably Maluku, Indonesia
- In the Philippines, per the book
- Very common throughout the islands.
- Family
- Oxalidaceae, filed in the book under Geraniaceæ
- Printed in 1901 as
- Averrhoa Bilimbi, L.
- Printed in 1985 as
- Hedychium coronarium
- Sources
- Page 60 on Project Gutenberg · Healing Wonders of Herbs (1985), page 92 · Wikipedia
The plant today
Averrhoa bilimbi (commonly known as bilimbi, orkkaappuli, cucumber tree, or tree sorrel) is a fruit-bearing tree in the family Oxalidaceae. It is native to the Maluku Islands and Sulawesi in Indonesia, and has become naturalised and is common throughout Southeast Asia. It is cultivated in parts of tropical South Asia and the Americas. It bears edible but extremely sour fruit. It is a close relative of the carambola tree.
Excerpt from “Averrhoa bilimbi” on Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.
Sa Tagalog
Ang kamias, kamyas o kalamyas (Ingles: camias ginger lily) ay isang maliit na punong tropikal na nagbubunga ng mga maaasim na prutas na maaaring kainin. Tinatawag ding kamias ang bunga ng punong ito. Ito ay may taas na 15-30 talampakan at may luntian na mga bunga na nagtataglay sa kanyang katas nang asidong oxalic.
Sipi mula sa “Kamias” sa Tagalog Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.
Recorded in the Philippines
GBIF holds 240 records of this plant from the Philippines. The ones with map coordinates fall in 35 provinces, most often Zamboanga del Norte (28), Iloilo (17), Davao del Sur (13), Metropolitan Manila (13), Negros Occidental (10), Rizal (8), Laguna (6), Cebu (5), and 27 more.
Counts from GBIF occurrence records, October 2026. They include planted trees and garden plants, and a province with no records may only lack collectors.
What the 1901 book says
A historical record, quoted as printed. Doses and remedies here are not medical advice.
Uses
The small fruit of the camia springing from the branches and trunks of the trees is widely known in the Philippines, where they eat it green, pickled, and in salad; and when ripe fresh and preserved. Its qualities and therapeutic applications are the same as those of the following species.
Botanical description
A tree 4–5 meters high with odd-pinnate leaves. Leaflets 12 pairs, ovate, linear, acute, soft and downy. Flowers small, pinkish or purplish, on trunk and branches. Stamens 10, five alternately longer. Pistils divergent. Fruit oblong, obtuse at the end, with five broad ribs.
What the 1985 book uses it for
A record of home remedies from 1985, with the book's amounts and doses reworded. It is not medical advice.
- FeverLeaf decoction for a sponge bath.Boil 3 cups of chopped fresh leaves in a gallon of water for 15 minutes and strain.Page 25
- HemorrhoidsLeaf decoction for a sitz bath.Boil 3 cups of chopped fresh leaves in 2 gallons of water for 10 minutes and strain. Sitz bath twice a day.Page 28
- MumpsMashed fruit as a poultice on the swollen glands.Leave on for 30 minutes, three times a day.Page 33
The caption gives the scientific and English names of kamia, the white ginger lily (Hedychium coronarium). The local names listed, and the fruit the remedies call for, belong to kamias, Averrhoa bilimbi, so the entry is filed there.
Summarised from Herminia de Guzman-Ladion, Healing Wonders of Herbs (Manila: Philippine Publishing House, 1985), where this plant is shown as “Kamias” on page 92. The book is in copyright, so its wording and photographs are not reproduced. Amounts are the book's, restated.
Recent research
The most cited papers since 2022 that name this plant in the title, pulled from Europe PMC in October 2026. Titles are the authors' own and the findings have not been reviewed here.
- Phytofabrication of silver nanoparticles using Averrhoa bilimbi leaf extract for anticancer activity
- Optimization of extraction and quantification of Flavonoids from Averrhoa bilimbi fruits using RP-HPLC and its correlation between total flavonoids content against antimicrobial activity
- Phytochemical Screening and Antibacterial Activities of Aqueous and Alcoholic Extracts of Averrhoa bilimbi Leaf against Bacteria Isolated from Oral Cavity