Shuteria involucrata (PROSEA)

Plant Resources of South-East Asia Introduction

List of species

Shuteria involucrata (Wall.) Wight & Arn.

Family: Leguminosae

Shuteria vestita Wight & Arn.

• Indonesia: tingtingsit (Javanese)
• Philippines: alitaitan, tayum (Bontoc), itlid (Igorot)
• Vietnam: tip.

India, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Bhutan, China, Indo-China, Thailand, Indonesia, the Philippines and New Guinea.

In the Philippines the stems are used for stringing fish and for tying. In Java it has proved to be a useful cover crop in cinchona plantations at higher altitudes.

Twining or creeping, perennial herb, 2-6 m long. Leaves alternate, trifoliate; stipules lanceolate, 5-7 mm long, persistent; petiole 2-7 cm long; blade of leaflets ovate-obovate, terminal leaflet subrhomboid, rounded or obtuse, 4 cm × 2.5 cm. Inflorescence an axillary raceme, 3-7(-10) cm long; calyx 5-6 mm long, long-hairy; corolla twice as long as calyx, red. Fruit a straight or slightly curved pod, 3-4 cm long, flat, 5-6-seeded. S. involucrata is found at altitudes of 600-2500 m, in forests and forest margins.

6, 15, 71, 128, 130, 197.

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