Alstonia spatulata Blume
Last updated: 02 April 2015
Scientific Name
Alstonia spatulata Blume
Synonyms
Alstonia cochinchensis Pierre ex Pit., Alstonia cuneata Wall. ex G.Don [1]
Vernacular Name
| Malaysia | Pulai paya (General); pulai basong (Peninsula); pulai lilin (Sabah); [2] pulai putih, pokok rejang, basong, [3] pelai [4] |
| English | Hard milkwood, siamese balsa [2] |
| Indonesia | Lame bodas (General); pulai gabus (Sumatra);[2] gabusan (Sundanese) |
| Thailand | Thia, sia, teenpet phru (Peninsular); [2] tin [3] |
| Vietnam | s[uwx]a l[as] b[af]ng, m[ows]p, m[of] cua n[uw][ows]c [2]. |
Geographical Distributions
Alstonia spatulata is distributed in Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam, Thailand, Peninsular Malaysia, Sumatra, Bangka Island, West Java, Borneo and New Guinea. It is occurs scattered on poorly drained, frequently flooded, clay-rich alluvium and on gley soils on undulating land, particularly near streams, usually below 300 m altitude. It is often abundant in secondary or shrub vegetation. [2]
Botanical Description
A. spatulata comes from the family of Apocynaceae. It is a small to medium-sized tree which can grow up to 20(-30) m tall. Its cylindrical bole is above a fluted and the outer bark is grey, smooth and with small papery flakes while the inner bark is pale yellow and with copious latex. [2]
The roots are shortly buttressed, and measures up to 75 cm in diametre. [2]
The leaves are on a narrowly winged petiole in whorls of 4-6, measuring 7-10 cm long, spoon-shaped, rounded at the top and with numerous secondary veins. [2]
The inflorescence is loose and its flowers are borne on pedicels of 2-10 mm long. The sepal is hairless while the petal is smooth outside. The follicles are hairless. [2]
Cultivation
No documentation
Chemical Constituent
No documentation
Plant Part Used
No documentation
Traditional Use
No documentation
Preclinical Data
No documentation
Clinical Data
No documentation
Dosage
No documentation
Poisonous
No documentation
Line drawing
Figure 1: The line drawing of A. spatulata Blume. [2]
References
- The Plant List. Ver 1.1. Alstonia spatulata Blume [homepage on the internet]. c2013. [updated 2012 March 23; cited 2015 April 02] Available from: http://www.theplantlist.org/tpl1.1/record/kew-7114
- Teo SP. Alstonia spatulata Bl. In: van Valkenburg JLCH, Bunyapraphatsara N, editors. Plant Resources of South-East Asia No. 12(2): Medicinal and poisonous plants 2. Leiden, Netherlands: Backhuys Publisher; 2001. p. 68.
- Herbal Medicine Research Centre, Institute for Medical Research. Compendium of Medicinal Plants Used in Malaysia. Volume 1. Kuala Lumpur: HMRC-IMR: 2002. p.37.
- Umberto Q. CRC World Dictionary of Medicinal and Poisonous Plants: Common Names, Scientific Names, Eponyms, Synonyms, and Etymology (5 Volume Set). Boca Raton, FL: CRC Press; 2012. p. 211
