Crateva magna
Family
Capparidaceae
Synonyms
Crateva religiosa Blume, Crateva nurvala Buch.-Ham.
Vernacular Names
| Malaysia | Bulan ayer, dala. |
| Indonesia | Sibaluak (Sumatra), jaranan (Javanese), pingos (Kalimantan). |
| Burma(Myanmar) | Kadat. |
| Thailand | Kum nam (General), ro-tha (northern), hoh-thoh (South-western). |
| Vietnam | B[us]n, co c[uj]m. |
Geographical Distributions
India, Burma (Myanmar), southern China, Hainan, Indo-China, Thailand, Peninsular Malaysia, Sumatra, Java and Kalimantan.
Description
A tree of about 8-15(-20) m in height. The branchlets are slightly zigzag, yellowish-brown. The stalk of a leaf is about 4-12 cm long; on the top bearing numerous gland-like appendages, it is up to 1 mm long and pale brown.
The leaflets are lance-shaped but sometimes oblong, (4.5-)9-15(-28) cm x 2-6.5 cm. Central leaflet is the broadest. Lateral ones are more or less symmetrical, base acute, apex acuminate and firmly herbaceous. The veins have 10-22 pairs while the stalk of a leaflet is between 0-10 mm long.
Inflorescence is about 10-16 cm long with 20-100 flowers. Bracts are early falling off. It is 5-9 mm long while the stalk of individual flower is 4-7 cm long. Sepals are egg-shaped, about 2-3.5 mm x 1.5 mm in size. Apex is acute, petals are rhomboid to elliptical, (8-)15-30 mm x (5-)15-22 mm, narrowed base 5-12 mm long. It has about 10-25 stamens with the size of 3.5-4.5 cm long. The filaments are purple in colour, anthers are 3 mm long, gynophore 3.5-5.5 cm long.
The 5-5.5 cm x 4-4.5 cm berry is solid and ellipsoid, it is yellowish-grey.
Seed is with a crest of sharp but irregular protrusions.
Ecology / Cultivation
C. magna is rather rare, and occurs mostly along streams in shady locations, sometimes near the seashore, up to 600 m altitude.
Line Drawing / Photograph
References
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Plant Resources of South-East Asia No 12(2). 1998, Unesco.
