Kydia calycina (PROSEA)

Plant Resources of South-East Asia Introduction

List of species

Kydia calycina Roxb.

Family: Malvaceae

Synonyms

Kydia glabrescens Mast.

Distribution

Pakistan, India, Burma (Myanmar) and China. Cultivated as an ornamental. It may have been grown in Peninsular Malaysia.

Uses

In India the bast is made into coarse rope, used e.g. for tying rafts. The fibre is strong when green, but becomes brittle on drying. The wood yields a mechanical pulp of low strength, which can be used in admixture with 30% chemical bamboo pulp in the production of newsprint. It is used as firewood, for charcoal and as timber for interior construction work, agricultural implements and domestic articles. The leaves are applied in poultices for skin diseases and body pains, and serve as fodder. A cold infusion of the young, mucilaginous bark is used for clarifying sugar.

Observations

A monoecious tree, up to 20 m tall. Leaves simple, alternate; stipules ovate, 1 cm × 0.5 cm; petiole 2-7.5 cm long; blade entire or 3-5-angled, 4-16.5 cm × 3-12.5 cm, base truncate-subcordate, apex acute-obtuse, 7-veined, midrib with gland near the base beneath. Inflorescence a panicle; pedicel ferruginous, 4-8 mm long, in fruit up to 1.5 cm long; epicalyx segments 4-6, obovate or spatulate; calyx 5-8 mm long with 5 triangular, acute lobes; corolla 1-1.5 cm in diameter, petals 5, clawed, white or pink; male flowers with 15-30 stamens, staminal column 3-5 mm long; female flowers with ovary 2 mm in diameter, woolly. Fruit a capsule, 4-5 mm in diameter. Seed reniform, glabrous, dark brown. K. calycina is generally found on banks of rivers and streams. It coppices well. Natural reproduction is by seed; root suckers are also produced. Propagation is usually by seed in nurseries, but stem, branch or root cuttings can also be used. The main fatty acids of the seed oil are oleic acid (60.6%), stearic acid (11.4%), myristic acid (6.0%), linoleic acid (5.3%), palmitic acid (4.9%) and lauric acid (3.8%). It also contains 2.9% cyclopropenoid fatty acids.

Selected sources

20, 23, 30, 40, 121, 124, 189.

Authors

M. Brink, P.C.M. Jansen & C.H. Bosch