{{Short description|Species of tree}} {{For|the other similarly named chestnut species|Castanea mollissima}} {{Speciesbox | image = Sterculia monosperma130.JPG | image_caption = | genus = Sterculia | species = monosperma | authority = Vent. | synonyms = ''Sterculia nobilis'' <small>(Salisb.) Sm.</small> }}
'''''Sterculia monosperma''''', also known as '''Chinese chestnut''', '''Thai chestnut''', '''seven sisters' fruit''',<ref>[http://toptropicals.com/catalog/uid/Sterculia_monosperma.htm Top Tropicals]</ref> and '''phoenix eye fruit''',<ref>{{cite web|title=蘋婆 Ping-Pong|url=http://www.caes.gov.tw/publication/tree/pingpong.htm|website=Chiayi Agricultural Experiment Station, Taiwan Agricultural Research Institute|publisher=Taiwan Government|access-date=27 July 2015|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150818192821/http://www.caes.gov.tw/publication/tree/pingpong.htm|archive-date=18 August 2015}}</ref> is a deciduous tropical nut-bearing tree of genus ''Sterculia''.
== Distribution == Its origin is southern China (Guangdong, Guangxi and Yunnan) and Taiwan, but it is now a common cultivated tree in northern Thailand, northern Vietnam, mountainous areas of Malaysia and Indonesia, as well as northern Laos and Shan State in Burma.<ref>[http://www.efloras.org/florataxon.aspx?flora_id=2&taxon_id=250077042 Flora of China]</ref>
== Human uses == The ripe nuts are edible. They may be eaten plain, roasted, boiled with water and salt or also may be used to prepare dishes, such as sauteed chicken.<ref>[https://myorganiclife.blogspot.com/2007/04/sterculia-monosperma-tree.html Sterculia Monosperma tree]</ref>
In China these nuts are one of the traditional foods of the Qixi Festival, the 'night of the seven', also known as the 'anniversary of the seventh sister'. Qixi is celebrated on the seventh day of the seventh lunar month.
The pods containing the nuts have a striking red color when ripe and the nuts are much darker —their husk or pericarpus is almost black— and smaller than the common chestnuts of genus ''Castanea''. The pellicle is brown and smooth and the fruit is yellowish in color.
== Gallery == <gallery> File:Sterculia monosperma277.JPG|Steamed nuts File:蘋婆Sterculia monosperma 20210428211335 01.jpg|Flower, macro photography. File:蘋婆Sterculia monosperma 20210428211335 07.jpg|Inflorescence. File:蘋婆Sterculia monosperma 20210428211335 13.jpg|Flowers in full bloom. </gallery>
== References == {{Commons category|Sterculia monosperma}} {{Wikispecies|Sterculia monosperma}} {{Reflist}} {{Taxonbar|from=Q4923879}}
monosperma Category:Trees of China Category:Trees of Thailand Category:Flora of Myanmar Category:Flora of Laos Category:Taxa named by Étienne Pierre Ventenat