Harpullia arborea
Content
Description
(Shrub or) tree, up to 33 m high, dbh up to 60 cm, but usually much smaller.
Leaves 2-6-jugate;
Inflorescences axillary to rami- or cau liflorous, hairy, ramified only near the base into several axes of about the same length, up to 17 cm long, or with a distinct, up to 35 cm (in fruit up to 60 cm) long main axis with short branches;
Sepals all equal, ovate to obovate, 5-10.5 by 3-5 mm, (some scattered glandular hairs especially along the margin).
Petals:
Stamens 5(-7);
Fruits 9-31 by 27-65 mm;
Seeds 1 or 2 per locule, black, mahogany-brown, or dark-purple;
Distribution
Asia-Tropical: Assam (Assam present); Sri Lanka (Sri Lanka present); Thailand (Thailand present), Deccan Peninsula from Maharashtra to the south present, N Queensland present, Pacific: Samoa (Samoa present); Tonga (Tonga present), S Vietnam present, Solomon Islands present
Sri Lanka, the Deccan Peninsula from Maharashtra to the south, Assam, Thailand, S Vietnam, throughout Malesia, from the Solomon islands to Samoa and Tonga, and N Queensland.
Uses
The bark is used as a fish poison. A watery exudate of the bark and sometimes the fruits is used for washing, to keep away leeches, or is drunk to allay pain. For a description of the timber, see p. 427. The oil pressed out of the seeds is used as an anti-rheumatic. See .
Notes
1. Though H. arborea is a variable species with many distinct local forms it is not possible to subdivide it. The most conspicuous difference is between the W Malesian population, up to and including Java and Borneo, with 2 ovules and thus 2 seeds per locule, and the E Malesian ones with usually only 1 ovule and 1 seed per locule. However, there is a wide overlap in the Philippines, and while the western material is rather uniform the number of ovules and seeds varies in the east.
2. Harpullia arborea seems to be scarce in W Malesia, whereas it is common in the eastern part.
2. Harpullia arborea seems to be scarce in W Malesia, whereas it is common in the eastern part.
Citation
Yap 1989 – In: Tree Fl. Malaya: 444
Koord. & Valeton 1903 – In: Bijdr. Booms. Java: 236
Backer & Bakh. f. 1965 – In: Fl. Java: 142
Radlk. 1914: p. 20. – In: Meded. Rijks-Herb.: as for Elbert 3261
Radlk. 1923 – In: Enum. Philipp. Flow. Pl.: 515
Lecomte 1912 – In: Fl. Indo-Chine: 1022
Merr. 1918: Sp. Blanc.: 243
Leenh. & Vente 1982 – In: Blumea: 11
ST. Reynolds 1985: p. 44. – In: Fl. Austral.: map 51
Le Renard 1913 – In: Ann. Sci. Nat. Bot.: 373
Radlk. 1934 – In: Engl., Pflanzenr. 98: 1459
Gagnep. 1950: Fl. Indo-Chine: 954: f. 119: 18-21
Blanco 1877 – In: Fl. Filip., ed. 3: 85
auct. non Roxb.: Fern.-Vill. 1934: p. 1444. – In: Engl., Pflanzenr. 98: as for Celebes.
Radlk. 1934 – In: Engl., Pflanzenr. 98: 1454
Thwaites 1913 – In: Atlas: pl. 142: f-n.
Craib 1926 – In: Fl. Siam. Enum.: 335
Radlk. 1934 – In: Engl., Pflanzenr. 98: 1462
Radlk. 1934 – In: Engl., Pflanzenr. 98: 1456