Derris robusta (PROSEA)

Plant Resources of South-East Asia Introduction

List of species

Derris robusta (Roxb. ex DC.) Benth.

Protologue: Journ. Linn. Soc. 4, Suppl.: 104 (1860).

Synonyms

• Derris polyphylla (Miq.) Benth. (1860),
• Brachypterum robustum (Roxb. ex DC.) Dalz. & Gibs. (1861).

Vernacular names

• Indonesia: bekel, kedusan, wedusan (Javanese)
• Thailand: khang sai chang (Phitsanulok), kheemoot (Saraburi), haang khaao (northern)
• Vietnam: cóc kèn mạnh.

Distribution

India, Burma (Myanmar), Thailand, Vietnam and Java.

Uses

D. robusta is occasionally used as a shade tree and a green manure. The wood is used in India for e.g. tea chests, and locally in Java for handles of axes. The leaves may serve as fodder. Although it is chemically well investigated, no medicinal, insecticidal or piscicidal uses are known.

Observations

• A tree up to 20(-25) m tall, with bole up to 30(-65) cm in diameter, tops of branches finely pubescent.
• Leaflets (7-)11-31, puberulous on both surfaces when young but often glabrescent above.
• Inflorescence axillary.
• Flowers with densely adpressed pubescent calyx and whitish or pale pink corolla, standard without basal callosities.
• Fruit strap-shaped, with a wing along one side.

In Java, D. robusta occurs in deciduous forest, especially teak forest, up to 300 m altitude.

Selected sources

• Backer, C.A. & Bakhuizen van den Brink Jr, R.C., 1963-1968. Flora of Java. 3 volumes. Noordhoff, Groningen, the Netherlands. Vol. 1 (1963) 647 pp., Vol. 2 (1965) 641 pp., Vol. 3 (1968) 761 pp.
• 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.
• 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.

Main genus page

• Derris (Medicinal plants)

Authors

• Auzay Hamid