Payena lucida (PROSEA)

Plant Resources of South-East Asia Introduction

List of species

Payena lucida (Wallich ex G. Don) A.DC.

Protologue: Prodr. 8: 197 (1844).

Synonyms

Payena glutinosa Pierre (1885), Payena dasyphylla (Miq.) Pierre var. glabrata King & Gamble (1905), Madhuca lucida (Wallich ex G. Don) Baehni (1965).

Vernacular names

• Indonesia: kalimangong (Sumatra), baringin jiput, nyatu hitam (Kalimantan)
• Malaysia: nyatoh bunga, mayang bukit (Peninsular)
• Thailand: phikun-thuan (Surat Thani).

Distribution

Burma, Thailand, Peninsular Malaysia, Sumatra, Bangka and Borneo.

Uses

The timber is used as nyatoh. The latex is used to adulterate gutta-percha. A decoction of the roots is used medicinally after childbirth.

Observations

A medium-sized tree up to 30 m tall, but usually much less, with cylindrical bole up to 60 cm in diameter, buttressed; leaves narrowly elliptical to narrowly obovate, pubescent to glabrous beneath; flowers small, up to 0.8 cm long, whitish; fruit ovoid to ellipsoid, 1.5-4 cm long, pubescent to subglabrous. P. lucida is closely related to P. lowiana. It is a fairly common understorey tree, usually found in the lowland, but sometimes up to 1600 m altitude. The density of the timber is 670-830 kg/m³at 15% moisture content.

Selected sources

36, 100, 102, 461, 581, 727, 779, 792.