Anodendron (PROSEA)

Plant Resources of South-East Asia Introduction

List of species

Anodendron A. DC.

Protologue: Prodr. 8: 443 (1844).

Family: Apocynaceae

Chromosome number: x= unknown;2n= unknown

• Anodendron candolleanum Wight, Icon. pl. Ind. Orient. 4: t. 1309 (1848), synonyms: A. rubescens (Teijsm. & Binnend.) Teijsm. & Binnend. (1866), A. scandens (Hassk.) Pichon (1948), A. tenuiflorum auct. non (Miq.) Miq. (1965).

• Anodendron oblongifolium Hemsl., Ann. Bot. (Oxford) 5: 504 (1889).

• Anodendron paniculatum A. DC., Prodr. 8: 444 (1844), synonyms: A. moluccanum Miq. (1869), A. tenuiflorum (Miq.) Miq. (1869), A. manubriatum Merr. (1912).

• A. candolleanum : Malaysia: akar katam, akar tingam
• Thailand: yaan tum (Trang).

• A. oblongifolium : Papua New Guinea: kapi, kar-ge (Bougainville Island).

• A. paniculatum : Andamanese bowstring plant (En)
• Indonesia: gambi (Javanese), bikat (Dayak), upapi (Ambon)
• Thailand: thao yaang nong (Trat), phi-pha-du (Chiang Mai), yaang nong thao (Prachin Buri).

Anodendron comprises 17 species and is distributed from India, Sri Lanka and China eastwards to Japan and southwards and eastwards through South-East Asia to the Solomon Islands and Vanuatu. From South-East Asia 15 species are recorded. A. candolleanum is found in Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia and the Philippines. A. oblongifolium occurs in Peninsular Malaysia, Borneo, the Moluccas, the Philippines, Papua New Guinea, the Solomon Islands and Vanuatu. A. paniculatum is distributed from India and Sri Lanka through Bangladesh, Burma (Myanmar), Thailand, Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam and Malaysia to Indonesia and the Philippines.

In the Moluccas the bast fibre of A. paniculatum is made into fishing nets and it has been used for bow-strings. In Kalimantan the main application of the fibre is also for fishing nets. Twisted stems are used as coarse tying material in Java. In Malaysia the bast has been used for tying. In Indo-China fibre from A. paniculatum serves as sewing-thread. On the Andaman Islands bast fibre of A. paniculatum is made into string, harpoon lines, bowstrings and turtle nets. The fibre is also used in India and Sri Lanka. The bast fibre of A. oblongifolium is applied similarly in Bougainville Island (Papua New Guinea) and the Solomon Islands for making strings for tying, fishing gear and bows, but also for custom clothing. Formerly A. candolleanum was the principal fibre in lower Perak (Malaysia), where it was probably used and prepared in the same way as A. paniculatum elsewhere. In the Philippines Anodendron stems serve for tying as well.

Anodendron latex is said to have been used as a poison on Ambon. The latex of A. oblongifolium is known as an antidote in case of poisoning by snakes or centipedes. The Dayak in Kalimantan boil the bast of old A. paniculatum plants to obtain a medicine against ulcers.

No production statistics of Anodendron are available. It does not enter international trade.

Fibre from A. paniculatum is fine, strong and durable. That of A. oblongifolium is said to be tough and to last for a decade. However, detailed and quantitative information on Anodendron fibre properties is lacking.

Several cardiac glycosides (cardenolides), called anodendrosides A-G, have been isolated from A. paniculatum branches. Paper chromatography has shown the presence of cardenolides in the bark, leaves and seeds of A. paniculatum and the bark and leaves of A. candolleanum . Cardiac glycosides have effects on myocardial contraction and atrioventricular conduction, which may account for the toxicity of Anodendron latex.

For the production of fishing gear and other cordage applications Anodendron can be replaced by natural fibres, for instance Colona javanica (Blume) Burret and Curculigo spp., and synthetic materials.

Climbers or scramblers, producing latex upon wounding. Leaves opposite, petiolate, coriaceous to papery, entire. Inflorescence consisting of axillary or terminal cymes, often arranged paniculately; flowers regular, 5-merous; sepals free; corolla with a narrow cylindrical tube and spreading oblong to elliptical lobes which overlap to the right in bud; stamens included in corolla tube, attached in a ring around the pistil head; disk annular, 5-dentate or 5-lobed; pistil consisting of an ovary of 2 separate carpels united into a common style ending in an ovoid stigma head with a short sharp projection. Fruit a pair of sub-divergent follicles, wide at base, narrowing to the apex, longitudinally dehiscent. Seed flattened ovoid to ellipsoid, beaked, bearing a tuft of hairs (coma).

• A. candolleanum . A glabrous liana. Leaves thickly coriaceous; petiole up to 5 cm long; blade elliptical to oblong, 4.5-25 cm × 1.5-12 cm (1.5-3 times as long as wide), base rounded, apex acuminate to apiculate, with 8-12 pairs of lateral veins. Inflorescence 3-23 cm long; pedicel 2-4 mm long; sepals 0.6-1 mm × 0.3-0.6 mm; corolla pinkish or cream, glabrous outside, pubescent inside, tube 1.5-2.5 mm long, lobes 2-3 mm × 0.5-1 mm; stamens inserted at 0.6 mm from corolla base; disk 0.4 mm in diameter; pistil 1-1.5 mm long. Fruit 10-20 cm × 1-1.5 cm.

• A. oblongifolium . A glabrous liana. Leaves with petiole up to 2 cm long; blade elliptical to obovate, 6-16 cm × 2.5-7.5 cm (2-4 times as long as wide), base cuneate to rounded, apex acuminate, lateral veins 9-13 pairs. Inflorescence 2-10 cm long, minutely puberulent; pedicel 1-4 mm long; sepals 1-2.5 mm long, ciliate; corolla white or yellowish, glabrous outside, pubescent inside, tube 1.5-3.5 mm long, lobes 3-6 mm long; stamens inserted at 0.5-1 mm from the corolla base; disk 5-crenate, up to 0.5 mm in diameter; pistil 1-1.5 mm long. Fruit 11-15 cm × 1-2 cm. Seed up to 17.5 mm × 7.5 mm, beak 6-9 mm long, coma up to 9 cm long.

• A. paniculatum . A glabrous liana. Leaves with petiole up to 2.5 cm long; blade elliptical to obovate, 14-28 cm × 1-10 cm (2-4.5 times as long as wide), base cuneate to rounded, apex acuminate, lateral veins 8-18 pairs. Inflorescence 5-15 cm long; pedicel 1.5-3 mm long; sepals about 1 mm long; petals whitish-yellow, glabrous outside, pubescent inside, tube 1-3 mm long, lobes 2-4 mm long; stamens inserted up to 1 mm from corolla base; disk 0.3 mm in diameter; pistil 1-1.5 mm long. Fruit 8-16 cm × 1-3 cm. Seed up to 22 mm × 9 mm, beak 6-17 mm long, coma 5-9 cm long.

In Java A. paniculatum flowers in June and July. In Indo-China flowering is from February to June and fruiting from January to August. In Papua New Guinea and the Solomon Islands A. oblongifolium flowers throughout the year.

A. oblongifolium is often included in A. paniculatum , but in a 1996 revision it was recognized as a separate species. It can be distinguished from A. paniculatum by its generally shorter inflorescences, which are more often axillary and puberulent, and larger flowers.

Cardenolide glycosides have also been isolated from the leaves, stems, bark and seeds of A. affine (Hook. & Arn.) Druce, which occurs in Bangladesh, Burma (Myanmar), Thailand, Laos, Vietnam, the Philippines, China and Taiwan. Some of these cardenolide glycosides have shown insect growth inhibitory activity. The leaves of A. coriaceum (Blume) Miq., found in Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia, have been eaten as a vegetable in Indonesia. It is probable that fibre is or can be obtained from these and other South-East Asian Anodendron species.

A. candolleanum , A. oblongifolium and A. paniculatum are found in lowland forest.

No information is available on propagation methods for Anodendron . In southern and eastern Borneo A. paniculatum is sometimes taken from the forest and planted near the house.

In India A. paniculatum is affected by scab disease caused by Elsinoe tumifaciens . Severe infection causes hypertrophy of the leaf and stem and premature dehiscence of the fruits. There is no information on diseases and pests attacking Anodendron in South-East Asia.

In the Moluccas A. paniculatum branches not thicker than about 2.5 cm are cut at the nodes to obtain pieces 30-70 cm long, covered by a 3-layered bark, with the outermost layer being grey or brown, the middle layer green and the inner layer white. The outermost and middle layers are scraped off, after which the white layer is removed with a knife and split into threads, of which 5-6 are twisted together into yarn. In Borneo young stems or green branches of A. paniculatum are cut into pieces about 40 cm long, which are allowed to wither in the house or in the sun. When the outer bark develops a wrinkled appearance, it is peeled off, the white fibres are exposed, and once removed by hand they are ready for use. In the Solomon Islands and Bougainville Island (Papua New Guinea) string is made from A. oblongifolium by removing the bark, drying the fibre in the sun and rolling the fibres end to end.

No germplasm collections or breeding activities of Anodendron are known to exist.

The role of Anodendron will probably remain limited to a local source of good quality fibre, especially useful in the production of fishing gear, with the different species having more or less the same role in various parts of South-East Asia. The presence of a range of natural and artificial substitutes makes an increase in the importance of Anodendron very unlikely.

• Bisset, N.G., 1956. Cardiac glycosides. Part I. Apocynaceae: the genera Carissa L., Vallaris Burm.f., Beaumontia Wall., Anodendron A. DC., and others. Annales Bogorienses 2(3): 193-210. 2 Burkill, I.H., 1966. A dictionary of the economic products of the Malay Peninsula. Revised reprint. 2 volumes. Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. pp. 170-171.
• Forster, P.I., 1993. The synonymy of Anodendron paniculatum (Apocynaceae) with notes on distribution and ethnobotany in Papuasia. Kew Bulletin 48(1): 139-142.
• Heyne, K., 1927. De nuttige planten van Nederlandsch-Indië [The useful plants of the Dutch East Indies]. 2nd Edition. Departement van Landbouw, Nijverheid en Handel in Nederlandsch Indië. (3rd Edition, 1950. W. van Hoeve, 's-Gravenhage, the Netherlands / Bandung, Indonesia). pp. 1290-1291. 5 Middleton, D.J., 1996. A revision of Anodendron A. DC. (Apocynaceae). Blumea 41: 37-68. 6 Polonia, J., Jäger, H., von Euw, J. & Reichstein, T., 1970. Die Cardenolide von Anodendron paniculatum (Roxb.) A. DC. [The cardenolides of Anodendron paniculatum (Roxb.) A. DC.]. Helvetica Chimica Acta 53(6): 1253-1271.

M. Brink