Alstonia spectabilis (PROSEA)

Plant Resources of South-East Asia Introduction

List of species

Alstonia spectabilis R.Br.

Protologue: Mem. Wern. Nat. Hist. Soc. 1: 76 (1811).

• Alstonia villosa Blume (1826),
• Alstonia subsessilis Miq. (1868),
• Alstonia longissima F. v. Mueller (1877).

• Hard milkwood (En)
• Indonesia: legarang (Javanese), langkerang (Madurese), pole (Timor), oli (Irian Jaya)
• Philippines: kuyau-kuyau
• Papua New Guinea: tutu (Boku, Central Province), mirun (Kieta, North Solomons Province).

Indonesia (except Sumatra and Kalimantan), the Philippines, New Guinea, northern Australia and the Solomon Islands.

The wood is used as hard alstonia and is suitable for building houses and bridges; it is also used for household implements.

In Central Province (Papua New Guinea), a decoction of the leaves and bark is used to treat a bad cough and sore throat. Leaves may also be chewed with betel nut (Areca catechu L.) and lime to ease the pain of constant coughing. On Yule Island, Central Province (Papua New Guinea), a decoction of the leaves is drunk to treat malarial fever. The same decoction taken daily is used to relieve asthma. The diluted stem sap is applied on tropical ulcers. In the Solomon Islands a decoction of the plant is the basis of a mixture used as an abortifacient.

• A medium-sized to large tree up to 40 m tall, bole up to 90 cm in diameter, sometimes with small buttresses, outer bark brownish or dark brown, smooth scaly or longitudinally fissured, inner bark yellowish or straw-coloured, without latex.
• Leaves in whorls of 3-4, linear to obovate, 3-32 cm × 1-12 cm, apex acute, obtuse or shortly abruptly acuminate with 10-30(-40) pairs of secondary veins, petiole (0-)5-27 mm.
• Inflorescence usually in groups of 2-8, many-flowered.
• Pedicel 1-3 mm long, calyx subequal, pubescent outside, corolla pubescent outside.
• Follicles glabrous.

A. spectabilis is often common in rain forest up to 450 m altitude. The density of the wood is 600-800 kg/m³ at 15% moisture content.

• [35]Backer, C.A. & Bakhuizen van den Brink, R.C., 1963–1968. Flora of Java. 3 volumes. Noordhoff, Groningen.
• [423] Holdsworth, D.K., 1991. Medicinal plants of the Central Province of Papua New Guinea. Part V. Coastal villages to the West and East of Port Moresby. International Journal of Pharmacognosy 29(3): 231—236.
• [431] Holdsworth, D.K. & Lacanienta, E., 1981. Traditional medicinal plants of the Central Province of Papua New Guinea. Part I. Quarterly Journal of Crude Drug Research 19(4): 144—154.
• [359]Keating, W.G. & Bolza, E., 1982. Characteristics, properties and uses of timbers. Vol. 1. South-East Asia, Northern Australia and the Pacific. Inkata Press Proprietary Ltd., Melbourne, Sydney & London. 362 pp.
• [373]Koorders, S.H. & Valeton, T., 1913–1918. Atlas der Baumarten von Java *[Atlas of tree species of Java]. 4 volumes. Fa. P.W.M. Trap, Leiden.
• [455]Markgraf, F., 1974. Florae Malesianae praecursores LIV. Apocynaceae part III. 9. Alstonia. Blumea 22: 20–29.
• [496]Monachino, J., 1949. A revision of the genus Alstonia (Apocynaceae). Pacific Science 3: 133–182.
• [786] Perry, L.M., 1980. Medicinal plants of East and Southeast Asia. Attributed properties and uses. MIT Press, Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States & London, United Kingdom. 620 pp.
• [950] Soerianegara, I. & Lemmens, R.H.M.J. (Editors), 1993. Plant Resources of South-East Asia No 5(1). Timber trees: Major commercial timbers. Pudoc Scientific Publishers, Wageningen, the Netherlands. 610 pp.
• [671]Suttie, W.R., 1969. Manual of the forest trees of Papua and New Guinea, part 9 – Apocynaceae. Department of Forests, Port Moresby. 52 pp.

• Alstonia (Medicinal plants)
• Alstonia (Timbers)

• Rudjiman
• Stephen P. Teo