Cerbera manghas (PROSEA)

Plant Resources of South-East Asia Introduction

List of species

Cerbera manghas L.

Protologue: Sp. pl. 1: 208 (1753).

Synonyms

• Cerbera linnaei Montrouz. (1860),
• Cerbera odollam auct. non Gaertner.
• Cerbera lactaria Buch.-Ham. ex Spreng.

Vernacular names

• Sea-mango (En)
• Indonesia: bintaro (Java), bintan (Manado), mangga brabu (Moluccas)
• Malaysia: bentan, bintaru (Peninsular)
• Philippines: baraibai (Tagalog)
• Burma (Myanmar): kalwa salat
• Thailand: teenpet lek (central), teenpet sai (peninsular), rak khao (southeastern)
• Vietnam: hải guả tủ huờng, muróp sat huờng, muróp xác huờng.

Distribution

From the Seychelles towards Indo-China, Taiwan, Thailand, throughout the Malesian area to north-eastern Australia and Melanesia.

Uses

In Thailand, the leaves and bark are used as a laxative and emetic. In Fiji, the leaves and fruits are used as an emetic, and the root and bark as a purgative. The scraped root is used to treat liver disorders. A decoction of the inner bark is drunk with cold water as an abortifacient.

Observations

• A shrub or tree up to 25 m tall, bole up to 70 cm in diameter.
• Leaves narrowly obovate to elliptical, 5-31 cm × 1-7(-8) cm, length-width ratio (1.7-)2.4-7, base cuneate, apex acuminate, apiculate or rounded, with 15-40 pairs of secondary veins.
• Inflorescence few- to many-flowered, up to 30 cm long, usually only one flower open at a time.
• Sepals very variable in shape and size, length-width ratio 1.2-12, corolla tube narrowly infundibuliform, 17-55 mm long, with 5 lanate scales just below the mouth, lobes 15-50 mm long, usually white, but locally tinged pink or yellow at the base, stamens inserted just beneath the mouth, covered by the lanate scales.
• Fruit consisting of 2 mericarps, ellipsoid, 5-12 cm × 3-7 cm × 3-5.5 cm, purplish-red or pale green.

Selected sources

• [215] Council of Scientific and Industrial Research, 1948—1976. The wealth of India: a dictionary of Indian raw materials & industrial products. 11 volumes. Publications and Information Directorate, New Delhi, India.
• [263] Doan Thi Nhu, Do Huy Bich, Pham Kim Man, Nguyen Thuong Thuc, Bui Xuan Chuong & Pham Duy Mai (Editors), 1990. Les plantes médicinales au Vietnam. Livre 2. Médicine traditionelle et pharmacopée [The medicinal plants of Vietnam. Volume 2. Traditional medicine and pharmacopoeia]. Agence de coopération Culturelle et Technique, Paris, France. 189 pp.
• [407] Heyne, K., 1950. De nuttige planten van Indonesië [The useful plants of Indonesia]. 3rd Edition. 2 volumes. W. van Hoeve, 's-Gravenhage, the Netherlands/Bandung, Indonesia. 1660 + CCXLI pp.
• [459] Huxley, A., Griffiths, M. & Levy, M., 1992. The new Royal Horticultural Society dictionary of gardening. 4 volumes. The MacMillan Press Ltd., London, United Kingdom. 3353 pp.
• [672] Middleton, D.J., 1999. Apocynaceae. In: Santisuk, T. & Larsen, K. (Editors). Flora of Thailand. Vol. 7(1). The Forest Herbarium, Royal Forest Department, Bangkok, Thailand. pp. 1—153.
• [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.
• [810] Quisumbing, E., 1978. Medicinal plants of the Philippines. Katha Publishing Co., Quezon City, the Philippines. 1262 pp.
• [1008] Tomlinson, P.B., 1986. The botany of mangroves. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, United Kingdom, New York, United States & Melbourne Australia. 413 pp.s

Main genus page

• Cerbera (Medicinal plants)
• Cerbera (Timbers)

Authors

• Tran Cong Khanh