Barringtonia acutangula (L.) Gaertner
Family
Lecythidaceae
Synonyms
B. spicata Blume, B. luzonensis Vidal, B. edaphocarpa Gagnep.
Vernacular Names
| Malaysia | Jurai-jurai, pokok gajah beranak, putat nasi (Peninsular). |
| English | Indian putat. |
| Indonesia | Putat (Malay), alakang (South Sulawesi), kacuk (Merauke, Papua). |
| Papua New Guinea | ko=o (Delena, Central Province). |
| Philippines | Apaling (Igorot), putat (Tagalog, Pampaya, Bikol), kalambuaia (Iloko). |
| Burma (Myanmar) | kyeni, kyi. |
| Laos | ka dôn nam, ka dôn noy. |
| Thailand | Chik na (Peninsular), kradon thung (North-Eastern), tong (Northern). |
| Vietnam | m[uu]ng, l[ooj]c v[uwf]ng, chi[ees]c d[or]. |
Geographical Distributions
From Afghanistan, Pakistan, India and Sri Lanka to Indo-China, southern China, Burma (Myanmar), Thailand, and throughout the Malesian area towards northern Australia.
Description
This is a shrub or small tree, measuring 2-13(-25) m tall, measures 20-90 cm in diametre of its trunk and measures 3-5 mm in diametre of the twigs.
The leaves are elliptical or obovate-oblong, measuring (5-)6-16(-22) cm x 2-6(-8) cm, obtuse apex, acute or acuminate, finely serrate-crenulate, hairless or hairy while the petiole is measures 4-10(-15) mm long. The raceme is terminal, pendulous, measures 20-45(-78) cm long, measuring up to 75-flowered, sessile or with 3-7 mm long pedicel. The opening buds are 5 mm long. The sepal tube is measures about 0.5 mm long and not accrescent. The free sepals are green. There are 4(-5) petals, which are elliptical, convex, with a size measures of 0.6-1(-1.2) cm x 0.4-0.7 cm and usually red, white or pink. The stamens are in 3 whorls, 1-2 cm long, deep pink or dark red. The ovary is 2-3(-4)-celled, with measures 1-2 cm long style and dark red.
The berry is oblong, measuring 2-6 cm x 1-3 cm, acutely angled to almost globular, 4- or 8-winged or slightly winged and tapered to the apex. The exocarp is thin, fibrous and wrinkled. The mesocarp parenchymatous is with two layers of anastomosing fibres. The endocarp is a thin brown membrane that covers the inside of the cell.
The seed is ovoid, measuring 1-4 cm x 0.5-1.5 cm and grooved.
Ecology / Cultivation
B. acutangula grows mostly along rivers, on plains regularly inundated or in swamps or freshwater mangroves from sea-level up to 750(—1600) m altitude.
Line Drawing / Photograph
References
- Plant Resources of South-East Asia No. 12 (2): Medicinal and poisonous plants.
