Excoecaria agallocha L.
Family
Euphorbiaceae
Synonyms
Excoecaria camettia Willd., Excoecaria affinis EndI., Stillingia agallocha (L.) Baillon.
Vernacular Names
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Malaysia |
Buta-buta (General), bebuta (Peninsular). |
|
English |
Blind-your-eyes, milky mangrove. |
|
Indonesia |
Kayu buta-buta (Indonesian), kayu betah (Javanese), menengan (Madurese, Javanese, Balinese). |
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Philippines |
Buta-buta (Tagalog, Pilipino), lipata (Bikol, Bisaya, Tagalog). |
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Myanmar |
Kayaw taway. |
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Thailand |
Buu-to (Peninsular), tatum thale (Central). |
|
Vietnam |
Gi[as], tr[af] m[ ur]. |
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Papua New Guinea |
Sismet (Manus Island), te’eria (Korina, Central Province), su (Madang Province). |
Geographical Distributions
Excoecaria agallocha is distributed along the coasts of southern India and Sri Lanka to Burma (Myanmar), Indo-China, China, Taiwan, the Ryukyu Islands, Thailand, throughout the Malaysian region, northern Australia and the Pacific.
Description
Excoecaria agallocha is a shrub or tree that can reach up to 15(-20) m tall.
The leaves are spirally arranged, ovate or elliptical, measure 3-9 cm x 2-5 cm, shortly blunt acuminate at apex while the margins are crenulate-serrate.
The inflorescence is unisexual, with the male inflorescence densely spike-like and almost catkin-like when young.
The fruit is a capsule, tricoccous, lobed, about 1 cm in diametre and borne in short racemes.
Ecology / Cultivation
Excoecaria agallocha is common in mangrove forests, tidal thickets and freshwater swamp forests up to 100(-400) m altitude.
Line Drawing / Photograph
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1) Safety
References
1. Plant Resources of South-East Asia No.12(2): Medicinal and poisonous plants 2.
