Streblus asper Lour.
Family
Moraceae
Synonyms
Diplothorax tonkinensis Gagnep., Streblus monoicus Gagnep.
Vernacular Names
| Malaysia | Kesinai, serinai (Peninsular). |
| English | Sandpaper tree, siamese rough bush, tooth brush tree. |
| Indonesia | Peleh (Madurese), serut (Javanese). |
| Thailand | Khoi (General), kak mai foi (Northern). |
| Myanmar | Okhne. |
| Laos | Som pho. |
| Philippines | Kalios (Tagalog). |
| Vietnam | Ru[oos]i ru[oos]i nh[as]m. |
Geographical Distributions
Streblus asper is distributed from Sri Lanka and India to Burma (Myanmar), IndoChina, southern China, Thailand, Peninsular Malaysia, Indonesia (Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, the Lesser Sunda Islands and the Moluccas) and the Philippines.
Description
S. asper is evergreen with unisexual flowers in the same plant or different plant, shrub or small trees that grow up to 15 m tall. The crown resembles an umbrella with twiggy, drooping and straggling branches. The twigs and leaves are rough and hairy, with copious white latex.
The leaves are arranged alternately, elliptical to reverse egg-shaped with size of 1.2-13 cm x 0.6-6.5 cm. The base is partially heart-shaped to partially triangular, often slightly asymmetrical while the apex is acute or partially acute; margin is serrate, dentate or has small teeth and is rough to touch on both sides. The stalk measures 1-3(-5) mm long and hairy.
The inflorescence is arising from the axils. The male flowers are small and have stalk heads, which are 4-10 mm in diametre. There are 4-15-flowers and 4 stamens while female flowers are solitary or several together with long pedicel. The ovary is with prominent bifid stigmatic arms.
The fruit is spherical drupe with measures 6-8 mm long and in yellow to orange colour. They are at first enclosed by the enlarged segments of floral leaves, measure 5-8 mm long but exposed at maturity, and the segments of floral leaves are abruptly bent. The spherical seed is 4-5 mm in diametre.
Ecology / Cultivation
S. asper is found in seasonal climates and is absent from rain forest. It is found in the surroundings of villages, open areas, borders of rice fields and secondary forest from sea-level up to 1000 m altitude.
Line Drawing / Photograph
References
- Plant Resources of South-East Asia No 12(2): Medicinal and poisonous plants 2.
