Allophylus cobbe (L.) Raeuschel
Family
Sapindaceae
Synonyms
A. dimorphus Radlk., A. fulvinervis (Blume) Blume, A. grossedentatus (Turcz.) Fern.-Vill.).
Vernacular Names
| Malaysia | Chinchang, chunkil (Peninsular), kelampu (Iban, Sarawak). |
| English | Tit-berry. |
| Indonesia | Cukilan (Javanese), si jangi, sicancang (Minangkabau, Sumatra). |
| Philippines | Barotangol (General), bating-tangkaian, bignai-gubat (Filipino). |
| Burma (Myanmar) | Zaung-gale. |
| Thailand | Chatong, phia fan (Northern), tosai (Northern, Central). |
| Brunei | Tukil-tukil. |
Geographical Distributions
Allophylus cobbe is pantropical and occurs throughout the Malesian region. In Southeast Asia, it slightly penetrates the subtropical regions.
Description
A. cobbe is a monoecious or dioecious, evergreen to partly deciduous, shrub or small to medium-sized tree that can reach up to measures 25 m tall. It is sometimes a woody climber. The bole is often crooked, low branching and up to measuring 30 cm in diametre. The bark surface is smooth. The twigs are hairless to star-shaped hairy.
The leaves are arranged spirally, digitate, (1-)3(-5)-foliolate and exstipulate. The leaflets are usually dentate.
The inflorescence is axillary, either simple or composed of a few raceme-like thyrses but sometimes paniculate. The flowers are unisexual, zygomorphic and with 4-merous. The sepals are persistent. The petals are 2-lobed and usually bearded scale inside. There are 8 stamens while the filaments are hairy. The disk is present. The ovary is superior, deeply 2(-3)-lobed with 1 ovule per cell and 1 style.
The fruit is drupaceous, usually with 1 seed, globular to obovoid in shape and it is dull orange-red in colour.
The seed is without an aril. The seedling is with epigeal germination.
The cotyledons are emergent and fleshy. The first pair of leaves are arranged opposite, subopposite or arranged spirally. They are usually 3-foliolate with serrate or lobed leaflets while the subsequent leaves are arranged spirally.
Ecology / Cultivation
The extreme morphological variation of A. cobbe is also reflected in its ecology. It is found in areas with everwet as well as seasonal climatic conditions, in primary or secondary forest but also in shrub vegetation, on sandy or rocky shores, in mangrove forest and freshwater swamps. The substrate varies from sand to heavy clay or peat and from granitic boulders to limestone outcrops. A. cobbe is found up to 1500(-2000) m altitude.
Line Drawing / Photograph
References
- Plant Resources of South-East Asia No. 5 (3): Timber trees: Lesser-known timbers.
