Month: November 2010

Ochanostachys amentacea

petaling

Nicobars, Andamans, Sumatra, Malaya, Banka, Lingga, Borneo, one sp. Common except in north. To 30m, bole poorly formed, fluted. Flower spikes simple or branched, like a catkin (amentacea). Fruit oval green, 2 cm across.

Scorodocarpus borneensis
kulim

Sumatra, Malaya, Borneo. Common exc. Perlis & N. Kelantan. Tree, spiral leaves that periodically reek of garlic, esp. after rain & without tissue damage. Leaves 5-6 prs secondary nerves, curving up towards margin, v. prominent below.

Melaleuca cajuputi
gelam, kayu putih
Tenasserim to Maluku. Tall tree with narrow crown, often twisted trunk. White bark, fissured and papery-flaky in elongated shaggy pieces, used for caulking. Young leaves silky. Common in coastal swamp. Medicinal oil from leaves.

Rhodomyrtus tomentosa
kemunting
SE Asia, common Malaya, esp. in open sandy ground. Sweet edible fruit. Leaves opposite with 3 distinctive longitudinal veins, underside thinly
white, woolly (tomentosa).

Syzygium aromaticum
cingkeh, clove
Traditionally added to cigarettes (kretek) and food for fragrance. Shoots and leaves chewed for bad breath and to relieve toothache. Sun dried flower buds are the cloves of commerce.

Syzygium borneense
(previously Syzygium microcalyx)
kelat
Endemic, from Penang to Singapore, west of ranges. Not uncommon. Leaf margin curls inwards. Flowers yellow white, fruit waxy white tinged red, globose, 5mm. Single seed.2 from TH 11/09.

Syzygium pseudosubtilis
(previously Eugenia pseudosubtilis)
kerian
Thailand, Malaya Sumatra, common in swampy forests and near padi fields. Up to 80 ft., flowers 1/4″, green, red after opening with strange sour fragrance. Green fruit ripens through red to black, sweet and juicy.

Syzygium campanulatum
kelat jambu
Not listed in Tree Flora of Malaya; possibly a recently described species.

Syzygium chloranthum
kelat merah

Annam, Siam, Sumatra, Borneo. Lowland and hill forests from Kedah to Singapore. Flowers green
white with red stamens, fruit sub-globular, to
2cm, green flushed rose purple. 2 from TH 11/09.

Syzygium claviflorum
jambu arang, kelat merah
Family: leaves opposite, elliptic or oblong, usually pointed, shortly stalked with distinct marginal veins. Flowers fluffy with stamens. 1,000 species in the tropics, 150 in Malaysia. Largest genus in Malaya in species & individuals. This sp. leaves wither scarlet.

Syzygium cumingianum
kelat

Assam, Burma, Siam, S China, Malesia to Solomon Is.
Medium tree to 20m, white flowers,
fruit depressed globose, white ripening blue
black. Single seed. 2 from TH 11/09.

Syzygium cumini

Syzygium grande
jambu laut
Malaya, Siam, Borneo. Common on rocky and sandy coasts, never wild inland, but now commonly planted. Large broadly elliptic leaves with distinct down turned tip. Fruit oblong with green leathery rind, but edible. Thick bark can stand lalang fires.

Syzygium jambos

Syzygium malaccense
jambu bol
Origin uncertain cultivated. Up to 18m., very large leaf blade, large crimson flowers, pear shaped variegated crimson/white tasteless fruit.

Syzygium pyrifolium
kelat

Siam, Malaya, Borneo. Common from Kedah to Singapore. Tree to 18m, grey brown bark, smooth to cracking. Fragrant flowers, calyx tapered to base with a constriction the middle. Very close to S. longiflora. 2 from TH 11/09.

Syzygium spicatum

Syzygium zeylanicum syn S. spicatum

gelam tikus

India, China, Malesia. Shrub to 18m, common from Kedah & Trengganu to Singapore, by sea and rivers. Flowers white sessile, terminal; white fruit oblong globose, 6mm, sweet periocarp. 2 from TH 11/09.

Syzygium sp.
kelat, jambu
Unidentified sp from peat swamps of Pekan.
4 from Elango 6/08.

Syzygium sp.
Previously S. bonsai.
Hybrid?

Tristaniopsis merguensis
pelawan, pahlawan, keruntum
From Mergu, Burma. Widely distributed fromrocky coasts to mountains. Bark orange to grey,
peels like Eucalyptus in spiraled scrolls. Yellow
flowers in compact clusters. 1 from TH 11/09.

Tristaniopsis pontianensis
pelawan
S Johor, endemic, but this fr Trengganu FR. Young leaves densely coppery red pubescent.Fr Tunas Harapan 6.2012.

Tristaniopsis obovata
pelawan
Malaya, Rhiau, Sarawak.
On rocky headlands from P.D. to Singapore
& along east coast of Johor. Characteristic peeling bark, twigs with smooth blood red bark.

Tristaniopsis sumatrana
pelawan, seluncur
W. Malesia. Common riverside tree up to 25m. often arching over water. Saplings have grey bark eventually peeling to reveal smooth orange
trunk, glossy green crown. Leaf blade distinctly tipped, tapered to 1cm. stalk.  Note: this species does not exist on The Plant List. References exist that T. sumatrana is a synonym for T. whiteana.

Horsfieldia superba (or Harmsiopanax sp.)
MYRISTICACEAE (or now ARALIACEAE)
cabbage leaf nutmeg
Medium to big tree, up to 100 ft., young twigs and leaves rusty wooly. Not infrequent throughout Malaya in lowland forest.

Horsfieldia sucosa
samak pulut, penarahan gajah
Tree to 25m, common, scattered through Malaya, endemic. Lowlands & hills, undulating & plains. Leaves spirally arranged, crowded at twig tips, fruit pear-shaped 3 x 2″, pink, shiny, succulent. Lat sucosus, juicy. 1 fr TH 11.09

Horsfieldia tomentosa (or Harmsiopanax sp.)
MYRISTICACEAE (or now ARALIACEAE)
penarahan
Lowlands to mts. Flowers appear as bunches of tiny yellow or orange grapes from the branches behind the leaves, citron-fragrant. Fruit med-lge, with juicy rind, yellowish-green to orange or pink, aril completely covering the seed.

Knema hookeriana

penarahan arang
Malaya, Sumatra. Slender tree to 30m, crown deep, dense, conical, branches droop, foliage pendent. Leaves v. long, flowers large, fruits big ellipsoid, woolly, red aril. Twig tips wooly. Possibly the commonest wild nutmeg in Malaya.

1 new specimen from Johor, June 2008, pictured below.

Myristica fragrans
pala, nutmeg
Maluku. Fruit is pickled as food. Shoots eaten as vegetable with rice to treat hypertension. Red mace for flavouring fish and cakes. Seed kernel gives commercial nutmeg. Oil is medicinal and used to flavour tonics.

Myristica gigantea
penarahan arang
Borneo, Sumatra, Malaya. Common lowlands, hillsides to 200m. To 50m spreading plank and flying buttresses, stilt roots, fissured black bark. Fruit scurfy, endosperm contains oil and starch.

Antiaris toxicaria
ipoh

India, S. China, Malesia. Scattered in lowland forest in Malaya. Sap an important ingredient of arrow poison. Bark grey, slightly fissured. Male and female flowers on same tree, male on lower twigs, females grouped in leaf axils. Fruit pear shaped, pulpy, crimson to black.

Artocarpus anisophyllus
keledang babi

The family includes cempedak and nangka; this species rare, in lowland forest of Negri Sembilan, Johor, Sumatra to Borneo. No other plant has leaflets arranged in this manner: large and small in regular order.

Artocarpus glaucus
terap

Sumatra, Borneo, Java, Malaya. Small tree to 18m, underside of leaf glaucous. Uncommon in hill & lowland forest. 1 fr TH 11.09

Artocarpus lanceifolius
keledang

Widely distributed in Malaya but not abundant. Sumatra, Banka, Rhiau. Medium to tall trees, bole with short buttresses, often hoop marked. Seed covered with bright orange edible aril. Wood used for heavy construction and Chinese coffins.

Artocarpus nitidus spp. griffithii
tampang

Siam, Indo-China, Sumatra, Borneo. In Malaya frequent in lowland forests, occasionally in villages. Medium tree, bole w/ short buttresses. Inflorescence solitary or paired in leaf axils, edible but gummy fruit w/ bright pink flesh.

Artocarpus rigidus
temponek, tempunai

Frequent in lowland & hill forest all SE Asia. Thick white latex in all parts, juvenile leaves lobed. Flowers unisexual, male (smaller) & female heads on same tree. Fruit up to 15 cm Ø, ripening orange, stiff conical spines (Latin name).

Artocarpus scortechinii
terap hitam, nangka pipit

Sumatra, Lingga. Scattered throughout Malaya in lowland forest. V. similar to A. elasticus but bole darker, leaves not so large; upper surface of leaves glabrous, lower densely hairy.

Ficus hispida
ara

S. Asia to Australia. Common in the middle or north of Malaya, but not reported south of Selangor. These self-sewn. Twigs, leaves and figs set with short bristly white hairs. Figs on leafless hanging twigs from the trunks and main branches; ropes of figs up to 90 cm long, sometimes trailing on ground. Figs with 7-9 deeply coloured faint ribs radiating from the mouth, ripening greenish yellow.

Ficus fistulosa
ara

India, s. China, Malesia. Very common. Small tree to 15m. Young twigs hollow, easily broken. Figs borne in clusters on woody knobs on trunk and main branches, ripening pale yellow.

Ficus maclellandii
ara

Assam, Burma, Thailand. Listed by Corner of local interest in Perlis: “By the road at Bukit Ketri, where guano is collected from the precipitous sides, there is a large but rare strangling fig.” Twigs dark brown with white spots.

Ficus roxburghii
ara

Himalayas, South China, Thailand. Figs have latex, twigs marked with ring like scar at each node. Stem fig with large leaves and large reddish figs in short ropes from the branches to the base of the trunk. Edible fruit of these specimens sterile as it lacks its fertilizing wasp.

Ficus sp.
ara

Twigs with ring stipule scar at each node. Latex. Flowers small, 3 kinds: male, female and gall (sterile female on which wasp develops) set inside fleshy figs. Huge genus, each sp. having unique wasp (Blastophaga), female exits fruit (male dies inside) after mating carrying pollen & enters another fruit to lay eggs in gall flower.

Morus alba
Indian mulberry, besaram

North India. Leaves fed to silk worms or cattle. To Chinese, all parts medicinal: restorative, tonic & astringent for nervous disorders. Young leaves good for nursing mothers. Leaf decoction treats the blood, gonorrhoea, & poisoned wounds.

Prainea limpato var. longipedunculata
from Sumatran name limpatoe

V. rare, from Ulu Gombak FR, Selangor. Dioecious trees, male head w/numerous flowers, female head has fewer. Peduncles (female flower stem) of this var. up to 25 cm long. 3 new specimens Dec 2007.

Streblus elongatus
tempinis

Malaya, Sumatra, Borneo. Frequent in open country, often coppiced. Bushy evergreen tree to 15m, high rounded crown. Young leaves pinkish brown, flowers in hanging green spikes or catkins 3-8″ long, singly or 2-4 together in leaf axils. Ripe fruit sweet.

Streblus ilicifolius
merlimau, kemuning akar, semantan

India to Timor, not Java. Common in dry forest, on limestone hills and rocks, rarely in the open. Fruit covered by enlarged sepals.

Aglaia argentea

pasah

Lowland forest throughout Malaya, from Burma to the Solomon Islands. The lower leaflet surface is covered by white or pale brown peltate scales which gives them a silvery appearance.

Aglaia coriacea

kiat

Thailand, Sumatra, Java, Borneo, Philippines. Lowland hill forests to 1,000m. Small tree to 10 m, twigs slender with dense reddish brown stellate haris, dense on the midribs, less so on the veins. Fruit to 2cm diameter, one seed.

Chukrasia tabularis

surian batu

Single sp. China, India, Indonesia, thru Malaya. Colonizes open areas, exc. south. Big (to 40m), deciduous. Leaves asymmetric, white flowers, fruit woody capsule. Lat. flattened, ref. to seeds.

Dysoxylum cauliflorum Hiern

Common in W Malesia. Tree to 30m, flowers creamy white very fragrant, spicate, appearing on older branches.  Fr Tunas Harapan 6.2012.

Melia azedarach

mindi kecil, Persian lilac

Nowhere wild, foothills of the Himalayas? Cultivated for scent and shade. Arabs and Persians use leaf juice as vermifuge and diuretic. Used as fish poison, 6-8 seeds will kill a man. Poultice of leaves used for headaches, of flowers kills lice.

Melia excelsa
sentang

Malaya, Sumatra, Borneo to New Guinea. Often in villages north from Malacca, occasionally in lowland forest. Tall evergreen tree to 50m, leaves tufted at end of long sloping branches. Leaves edible, but bitter. Good timber for houses.

Melia indica

neem

Wild in India & Java, otherwise cultivated for medicines. All parts of tree effective. Dried leaves in books deter insects. Identified by delicate and curiously curved toothed leaflets. Root bark for fever and anti-malarial, leaf poultice for ulcers.

Sandoricum koetjape
sentol

About 5 species, all in Malaya in lowland forest. Leaves trifoliate, flowers green slender panicles fruit large, round, fleshy, not splitting. Tree to 50m tall, buttressed when old. Bark smooth with faint raised circular patterns.

Walsura pinnata

bekak

Indo-Malesia 14 spp, 2 in Malaya. Perak, Melaka, Johor, Selangor, Pahang. Small tree to 20m. White flowers in panicles, fruit dull green, oblong to 2cm with 2 seeds, reported poisonous. Seeds dispersed by birds.