Caesalpinia digyna (PROSEA)

Plant Resources of South-East Asia Introduction

List of species

Caesalpinia digyna Rottler

Protologue: Ges. Naturf. Freunde Berlin Neue Schrift. 4: 200, tab. 3 (1803).

Synonyms

• Caesalpinia oleosperma Roxb. (1832).

Vernacular names

• Teri pods (En)
• Cambodia: khvaw bânla
• Laos: kachaay
• Thailand: kamchaai (northern), khee raet (central), ngaai (peninsular)
• Vietnam: móc mèo xanh, vang xanh

Distribution

C. digyna is found in temperate and tropical regions from the Himalayas southward and eastward to Sri Lanka and South-East Asia, and northward and eastward to China. In Malesia, it is found in Peninsular Malaysia, Sumatra, Java and the Lesser Sunda Islands.

Uses

In Indo-China, the pounded bark is used as a fish poison. In India, the root being astringent is given internally in phthisis, scrofula and diabetes.

Observations

• A liana, scandent shrub or small tree up to 10 m tall, branchlets armed.
• Leaves paripinnate, rachis 17-23 cm long, with 8-13 pairs of pinnae, pinna 4-5 cm long, unarmed, stipules minute, subulate, caducous, leaflets opposite, 7-12 pairs per pinna, base oblique-truncate, apex truncate.
• Panicle axillary or terminal, 30-40 cm long; flowers bisexual, sepals 3-8 mm × 2-5 mm, petals 5-8 mm × 3-8 mm, clawed, ovary with 2-4 ovules.
• Pod 3-5 cm × 1.5-2 cm, constricted between the seeds, 1-3(-4)-seeded, indehiscent.
• Seed subglobose, dark brown.

C. digyna can be found in rather dry open habitats up to 250 m altitude in Malesia.

Selected sources

• [135] Burkill, I.H., 1966. A dictionary of the economic products of the Malay Peninsula. Revised reprint. 2 volumes. Ministry of Agriculture and Co-operatives, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Vol. 1 (A—H) pp. 1—1240, Vol. 2 (I—Z) pp. 1241—2444.
• [215] Council of Scientific and Industrial Research, 1948—1976. The wealth of India: a dictionary of Indian raw materials & industrial products. 11 volumes. Publications and Information Directorate, New Delhi, India.
• [256] Ding Hou, Larsen, K. & Larsen, S.S., 1996. Caesalpiniaceae (Leguminosae-Caesalpinioideae). In: Kalkman, C., Kirkup, D.W., Nooteboom, H.P., Stevens, P.F. & de Wilde, W.J.J.O. (Editors): Flora Malesiana. Series 1, Vol. 12(2). Rijksherbarium/Hortus Botanicus, Leiden, the Netherlands. pp. 409—730.
• [274] Dutta, B.K., Rahman, I. & Das, T.K., 1998. Antifungal activity of Indian plant extracts. Mycoses 41(11&12): 535—536.
• [585] Larsen, K., Larsen, S.S. & Vidal, J.E., 1980. Légumineuses-Caesalpinioïdées [Leguminosae-Caesalpinioideae]. In: Vidal, J.E. & Vidal, Y. (Editors): Flore du Cambodge, du Laos et du Viêtnam [Flora of Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam]. Vol. 18. Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle, Paris, France. 227 pp.
• [602] Lemmens, R.H.M.J. & Wulijarni-Soetjipto, N. (Editors), 1991. Plant Resources of South-East Asia No 3. Dye and tannin-producing plants. Pudoc, Wageningen, the Netherlands. 196 pp.

Main genus page

• Caesalpinia (Medicinal plants)
• Caesalpinia (Dyes and tannins)

Authors

• B. Ibnu Utomo