Leuconotis griffithii (PROSEA)

Plant Resources of South-East Asia Introduction

List of species

Leuconotis griffithii Hook.f.

Protologue: Apocynaceae

Vernacular names

• Peninsular Malaysia: akar gerip puteh, akar gerit puteh, akar getah sundek.

Distribution

Malaysia (Peninsular), Indonesia (Sumatra), Thailand.

Uses

The latex produces a fair quality rubber.

Observations

• Climbing shrub containing latex, branches glabrous.
• Leaves opposite; petiole 1-3 cm long; blade elliptical to oblong, 5-14 cm × 2-6 cm, base rounded to cuneate, apex blunt acuminate.
• Inflorescence a cyme, several together on a robust, axillary peduncle in total about 5 cm long.
• Flowers 4-merous, yellow to orange; corolla tubular, tube up to 7 mm long, lobes up to 4 mm long.
• Fruit an ellipsoidal to pear-shaped berry, up to 3.5 cm × 2 cm, usually with only 2 seeds of about 1 cm length.

L. griffithii occurs in evergreen forest. In Peninsular Malaysia L. maingayi Dyer ex Hook.f. (vernacular name: "akar gerip nasi") resembles L. griffithii but is much stouter; its latex is of comparable quality.

Selected sources

11, 20, 24, 30, 34.