Calycopteris floribunda (Roxb.) Lamk
Family
Combretaceae
Synonyms
Getonia floribunda Roxb, Calycopteris nutans (Roxb.) Kurz
Vernacular Names
| Malaysia | Pelawas (peninsular). |
| Cambodia | Ksouohs, ta suos, qgnu. |
| Laos | Dok ka deng, ngouang ‘soum. |
| Thailand | Kruut (Surat Thani), khaao tok taek (central), nuai sut (peninsular). |
| Vietnam | D[aa]y ch[uw]ng cheo, d[aa]y d[aaf]u m[aaf]u, c[aa]y b[uf] nh[ow]n. |
Geographical Distributions
C. floribunda is distributed from India and Burma (Myanmar), through Indo-China and Thailand, to Peninsular Malaysia (Langkawi Island, Penang, Pahang).
Description
This is a large scandent shrub or liana, which can reach up to 10 m long. Its young branchlets are dense with yellow short soft hair.
The leaves are arranged opposite, egg-shaped to narrowly elliptical, 6-17 cm x 2-7 cm, entire and dense with yellow short soft hair, particularly below. The petiole is 0.5-1 cm long while the stipules are absent.
Inflorescence is an axillary and terminal panicle. Flowers are bisexual, yellowish-green and they are about 1 cm long. The receptacle is divided into lower and upper parts. The sepal is with 5 accrescent lobes. Petals are absent. There are 10 stamens in 2 whorls, inserted within the upper receptacle. The disk is cupular. The ovary is inferior with 1-locular while style is subulate.
Fruit is an ellipsoid, 5-gonous and 5-furrowed pseudocarp. It is about 8 mm long, densely villous, crowned by enlarged up to 1.5 cm long sepal-lobes and 1-seeded.
Seed is 5-6 mm long.
Ecology / Cultivation
In Peninsular Malaysia, C. floribunda occurs in mixed forest, often along riverbanks. In Cambodia, it is locally common in forest edges and in regrowth after deforestation. It may have a shrubby habit, for instance inside the forest, but it may become a liana when more light is available, climbing into the trees.
Line Drawing / Photograph
References
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Plant Resources of South-East Asia No.12(3): Medicinal and poisonous plants 3.
