Fagraea elliptica Roxb.
Family
Loganiaceae
Synonyms
Fagraea speciosa (Blume) Blume, F. sumatrana Miq., F. javanensis (Blume) Bakh.f.
Vernacular Names
| Malaysia | Tembasu (Peninsular), perapat padang (Iban, Sarawak). |
| Indonesia | Ki tandu (Sundanese), tembesu ketam (Sumatra), tonki tonki (Ambon). |
| Brunei | Temasok. |
Geographical Distributions
Fragrea elliptica is distributed throughout in peninsular Malaysia, Sumatra, western Java, Borneo, Sulawesi, the Moluccas and New Guinea.
Description
F. elliptica is a medium-sized to large tree that can reach up to measure 45 m tall, up to measure150 cm in diametre of the bole and occasionally with buttresses up to measure 1 m high. The bark surface is smooth and becomes scaly, pale green to grey in colour while the inner bark is yellow.
The leaves are lance-shaped or oblong to obovate or sometimes broadly obovate in shape, with a size of measuring 7.5-24(-32) cm x 1.7-15 cm, usually acuminate apex and rarely obtuse or rounded to slightly retuse. The secondary veins are prominent or indistinct in thick leaves. The petiole is measure 1-4 cm long while the stipules connate in a ring around the stem.
The inflorescence is terminal and axillary and the pedicel is with halfway bracteoles or slightly less than halfway. The petal tube is narrow and cylindrical, with a size of measure 3.5-6(-8) mm long, headed stigma and obscurely 2-lobed.
The orange to brick-red fruit is spherical and with a size measure 0.5-0.8 cm across.
Ecology / Cultivation
F. elliptica occurs in a wide variety of habitats, from well-drained or even dry locations on sandy soils to marshy or temporarily inundated sites, usually in forest but also as a shrub in open grassy locations or on hill tops, up to 1800 m altitude.
Line Drawing / Photograph
References
- Plant Resources of South-East Asia No. 5 (2): Timber trees: Minor commercial timbers.
