Eurya acuminata (PROSEA)

Plant Resources of South-East Asia Introduction

List of species

Eurya acuminata DC.

Family: Theaceae

Synonyms

• Eurya japonica auct., non Thunb.,
• E. monticola Ridley,
• E. wrayi King.

Vernacular names

• Indonesia: ki sapu (Sundanese), lingsangan (Javanese), sala (Sumatra)
• Malaysia: medang melukut jantan, jerak merah, kelantang (Peninsular)
• Laos: txiv ntoo teb nple (Hmong, Xieng Khouang)
• Thailand: rangkai (south-eastern), plaisan (peninsular).

Distribution

India, Sri Lanka, south-west China, Taiwan, Thailand; within the Malesian area in Peninsular Malaysia, Sumatra, Java, and Sulawesi.

Uses

The leaves are used as green manure, medicinally for poulticing skin eruptions, and in China to adulterate tea. The soft, brownish wood is suitable as fuelwood and has been used for beams in house building but it splits easily.

Observations

• Dioecious or monoecious shrub or small tree up to 15 m tall. Twigs pubescent at the tip.
• Leaves distichous, lanceolate or ovate-oblong to obovate-oblong, 4.5-10 cm × 1.2-3 cm.
• Flowers in 1-3-flowered axillary fascicles, unisexual, actinomorphic, 5-merous, small, white; petals connate at base.
• Fruit a small, globose, glabrous, many-seeded berry.

E. acuminata has an unpleasant pungent odour. It occurs in open sites, and is a common component of subalpine forest, up to 3000 m altitude. It is propagated by cuttings.

Selected sources

• Burkill, I.H., 1966. A dictionary of the economic products of the Malay Peninsula. 2nd Edition. 2 volumes. Ministry of Agriculture and Co-operatives, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. 2444 pp.
• de Wit, H.C.D., 1947. A revision of the genus Eurya Thunb. (Theac.) in the Malay archipelago (including New Guinea and south of the Philippines). Bulletin of the Botanical Gardens, Buitenzorg, Series 3, 17: 329-375.
• Heyne, K., 1950. De nuttige planten van Indonesië [The useful plants of Indonesia]. 3rd Edition. 2 volumes. W. van Hoeve, the Hague, the Netherlands/Bandung, Indonesia. 261, 1450 pp.
• Smitinand, T., Larsen, K. & Hanssen, B. (Editors), 1970-. Flora of Thailand. Volume 2-. Danida, TISTR Press, Bangkok, Thailand.
• Vidal, J., 1962. Noms vernaculaires de plantes en usage au Laos [Vernacular names of plants used in Laos]. Extrait du Bulletin de l'Ecole Française d'Extrême-Orient 49, fasc. 2. 197 pp.
• Wealth of India (various editors), 1948-1976. A dictionary of Indian raw materials and industrial products: raw materials. 11 volumes. Publications and Information Directorate, Council of Scientific and Industrial Research, New Delhi, India. 4441 pp.
• Whitmore, T.C. & Ng, F.S.P. (Editors), 1972-1989. Tree flora of Malaya: a manual for foresters. 4 volumes. 2nd Edition. Longman Malaysia Sendirian Berhad, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

Authors

• M.S.M. Sosef & L.J.G. van der Maesen