Agelaea borneensis (PROSEA)

Plant Resources of South-East Asia Introduction

List of species

Agelaea borneensis (Hook.f.) Merr.

Family: Connaraceae

Synonyms

Agelaea everettii Merr., A. vestita Hook.f., Hemiandrina villosa Schellenb.

Vernacular names

• Indonesia: akar sebasa itam, kayu poyoh (Sumatra), akar itam (Bangka)
• Malaysia: akar rusa-rusa, akar kachang-kachang, akar telur bujok (Peninsular)
• Philippines: kamagsa (Tagalog), balagum (Bisaya), ngaluk (Ibanag).

Distribution

Peninsular Thailand, Peninsular Malaysia, Singapore, Sumatra, Bangka, western Java, Borneo and the Philippines; possibly also peninsular Burma (Myanmar).

Uses

In Sumatra, Borneo and the Philippines the tough stems and branches are used for ropes; they are durable in water, and used in tying rafts and hoop-nets. A. borneensis stems have been holding and supporting the church bells in Tayabas, Quezon (the Philippines) for at least 200 years.

Observations

A liana or scrambling shrub; stem up to 10 cm in diameter, young branches densely fulvous-tomentose. Leaves 3-foliolate, without stipules; leaflets up to 33 cm × 14 cm. Flowers in a lax axillary panicle, bisexual, (4-)5-merous, heterostylous, with (5-)10 stamens and 5 pistils. Fruit consisting of 1-5 follicles up to 2.5 cm long, smooth to tuberculate, densely pubescent, 1-seeded. Seed obovoid, basal half covered by a sarcotesta. A. borneensis occurs in primary and secondary rain forest up to 700 m altitude.

Selected sources

17, 19, 20, 45, 47, 49, 71, 115.

Authors

M. Brink, P.C.M. Jansen & C.H. Bosch