Breynia racemosa (Blume) Müll. Arg.
Family
Euphorbiaceae
Synonyms
B. rhamnoides (Blume) Müll. Arg. var. hypoleuca (Müll. Arg.) Müll. Arg., B. acuminata (Müll. Arg.) Müll. Arg., B. reclinata (Roxb.) Hook.f.
Vernacular Names
| Papua New Guinea | Musmus (Taskul, New Hanover). |
| Philippines | Matang-ulang (Tagalog), karmai (Iloko). |
| Thailand | Kangpla. |
Geographical Distributions
Thailand, Peninsular Malaysia, Sumatra, Java, Sumbawa, Timor, Borneo, the Philippines and New Guinea.
Description
B. racemosa is a scandent shrub or tree that can reach up to 9 m tall and it is smooth.
The leaves are ovate, measuring 1.9-2.9 cm x 1.2-1.7 cm, 1.6-1.7 of length width ratio, rounded base, obtuse apex, mucronulate, recurved margin, coriaceous, with measure 1.5-2 mm long petiole while stipules are measure about 1.3 mm long.
The staminate flowers are unknown. The pistillate flowers are measure 1.7-3.5 mm in diametre and with measuring 0.5-1.8 mm long pedicel. The sepal is measure 1-1.8 mm long and with measuring 0.7-1 mm wide lobes. The ovary is obconical in shape that measure about 1.3 mm in diameter . It is apically lobed, measure about 0.2 mm long stigmas, not united, not split and pointing towards each other.
The fruit is spherical flattened, measuring about 5 mm x 5.8 mm, sometimes a bit spiny, with narrow apical crown and red in colour.
The orange seed is measure about 4 mm x 2.3 mm x 2.3 mm.
Ecology / Cultivation
B. racemosa is found in scrub, forest edges and along paths near beach forest, from sea-level up to 2500 m altitude.
Line Drawing / Photograph
References
- Plant Resources of South-East Asia No. 12 (2): Medicinal and poisonous plants.
