Salacia korthalsiana (PROSEA)

Plant Resources of South-East Asia Introduction

List of species

Salacia korthalsiana Miq.

Family: Celastraceae

Synonyms

• Salacia philippinensis Merr.

Vernacular names

• Indonesia: a'roy kúluk l'ökük (Sundanese), tjantel wesi (Javanese)
• Malaysia: akar beting, akar menjela
• Philippines: aropit (Tagalog).

Distribution

Peninsular Thailand and throughout Malesia, possibly excluding Sulawesi and New Guinea.

Uses

Pulp of fresh fruits is eaten. A decoction from the roots is drunk against cracked lips.

Observations

• Liana, up to 18 m long, rarely erect shrub.
• Fruit a subglobose, 1-seeded drupe, 2-3 cm long.

Floral parts contain sulphur-like particles. Occurs wild in forests and thickets, sometimes on limestone rock, in eastern Java in teak plantations, up to 1400 m altitude. Often classified in Hippocrateaceae.

Selected sources

• Burkill, I.H., 1966. A dictionary of the economic products of the Malay Peninsula. 2nd ed. 2 Volumes. Ministry of Agriculture and Co-operatives, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. 2444 pp.

• Heyne, K., 1927. De nuttige planten van Nederlandsch Indië [The useful plants of the Dutch East Indies]. 2nd ed. 3 Volumes. Departement van Landbouw, Nijverheid en Handel in Nederlandsch Indië. 1953 pp.

• van Steenis, C.G.G.J. et al. (Editors), 1950-. Flora Malesiana. Series 1. Vol. 1, 4-10. Centre for Research and Development in Biology, Bogor, Indonesia, and Rijksherbarium, Leiden, the Netherlands. Kluwer Academic Publishers, Dordrecht, Boston, London.

Authors

P.C.M. Jansen, J. Jukema, L.P.A. Oyen, T.G. van Lingen