Exocarpos latifolius (PROSEA)

Plant Resources of South-East Asia Introduction

List of species

Exocarpos latifolius R. Brown

Family: Santalaceae

Synonyms

• Exocarpos luzonensis (Presl) A. DC.,
• E. ovatus Blume,
• Xylophyllos latifolius (R. Brown) O. Kuntze.

Vernacular names

• Mistletoe tree, broad leaved cherry tree (En)
• Indonesia: cendana semut (Javanese), kamoneng alas (Kangean), blaping (Timor)
• Philippines: agsum (Tagbanua), kamiing (Pangasinan), uksur (Iloko).

Distribution

From the Philippines and Indonesia to New Guinea and Australia.

Uses

The wood is considered an inferior substitute for sandalwood, losing its fragrance rapidly. It is not suited for timber because it is only available in small crooked dimensions, but it is used to make small utensils and handles. The receptacle, fruit and seed are said to be edible (sometimes chewed with betel leaves because of the red colour) but aboriginals in Australia consider all parts toxic. In Australia an infusion of the bark and the seeds is used as a contraceptive.

Observations

• Semi-parasitic shrub or small tree, up to 10(-20) m tall, stem up to 0.5 m in diameter.
• Leaves alternate; petiole 2-14 mm long; blade broadly ovate, elliptical or obovate, up to 14 cm × 8.5 cm, obtuse.
• Inflorescence a green spike, up to 5 cm long, often clustered or branched; tepals 5, up to 1 mm long, green, persistent.
• Fruit an ellipsoid drupe, 6-9 mm × 6-9 mm, scurfy, yellowish to reddish, on an obovoid, bright red fruiting receptacle 4-8 mm × 10 mm.
• Seed globose, 5-8 mm in diameter.

The wood is whitish to pale reddish-brown, heavy, hard, strong and durable. E. latifolia is very variable and occurs in many habitats, in shrubland, woodland and forest, especially on coastal dunes, river banks and sandstone gullies at low altitudes. The reported hosts are Petalostigma spp., Canthium spp., Terminalia sp., Callitris sp. and the species itself.

Selected sources

• Backer, C.A. & Bakhuizen van den Brink Jr, R.C., 1963-1968. Flora of Java. 3 volumes. Wolters-Noordhoff, Groningen, the Netherlands. Vol.1 (1963) 647 pp., Vol.2 (1965) 641 pp., Vol. 3 (1968) 761 pp.
• Burkill, I.H., 1935. A dictionary of the economic products of the Malay Peninsula. 2 volumes. Crown Agents for the Colonies, London, United Kingdom. 2402 pp. (slightly revised reprint, 1966. 2 volumes. Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. 2444 pp.).
• Flora of Australia (various editors), 1980-. Vol. 1-. Australian Government Publishing Service, Canberra, Australia.
• Heyne, K., 1927. De nuttige planten van Nederlandsch Indië [The useful plants of the Dutch East Indies]. 2nd edition. 3 volumes. Departement van Landbouw, Nijverheid en Handel in Nederlandsch Indië. 1953 pp. (3rd edition, 1950. W. van Hoeve, 's-Gravenhage/Bandung, the Netherlands/Indonesia. 1660 pp.).
• Merrill, E.D., 1923-1926. An enumeration of Philippine flowering plants. 4 volumes. Bureau of Printing, Manila, the Philippines. 463, 530, 628, 515 pp. respectively.
• Stauffer, H.U., 1959. Revisio Anthobolearum. Santalales-Studien 4. Mitteilungen aus dem Botanischen Museum der Universität Zürich 213: 1-256.

Authors

P.C.M. Jansen