Lepiniopsis ternatensis (PROSEA)

Plant Resources of South-East Asia Introduction

List of species

Lepiniopsis ternatensis Valeton

Family: Apocynaceae

Synonyms

Lepiniopsis philippinensis Elmer.

Vernacular names

• Indonesia: pulasari pohon, tokupoa (Moluccas)
• Philippines: kolinos, kuyon-kuyon, magpanias (Bisaya).

Distribution

The Philippines (Cebu, Luzon, Mindanao, Mindoro, Negros, Panay, Samar, Siargao, Sibuyan), Indonesia (Moluccas, Sulawesi, Talaud Islands), New Guinea, New Britain and New Ireland.

Uses

The roots are fragrant (resembling Iris rhizomes) and are used to perfume clothes and for skin ointment. The odour is best conserved by first soaking the roots in seawater and then drying them.

Observations

• Shrub or tree, 6-17 m tall, rich in white latex, with 3-whorled branches.
• Leaves alternate; petiole 1-3.5 cm long; blade elliptical to obovate, 9-26 cm × 3-8 cm, fleshy to coriaceous, glabrous.
• Inflorescence dichasial, in alternating ternate groups.
• Calyx lobes 5; corolla salverform, 5-lobed, tube orange, lobes white.
• Fruit syncarpous, drupaceous, ellipsoid, 2.5-5 cm × 1.5-2 cm, red, 5-locular.
• Seed usually 2-3 per fruit, 2-3 cm long, bony.

L. ternatensis occurs rare and scattered, as undergrowth in lowland rain forest, up to 900 m altitude, along rivers, on sandy beaches and other open localities.

Selected sources

• 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.).
• Markgraf, F., 1984. Florae Malesianae praecursores 66. Apocynaceae 7. Hunteria, Lepiniopsis. Blumea 30: 169-172.
• 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.

Authors

P.C.M. Jansen