Thespesia lampas (PROSEA)

Plant Resources of South-East Asia Introduction

List of species

Thespesia lampas (Cav.) Dalzell & A. Gibson

Protologue: Bombay fl.: 19 (1861).

Family: Malvaceae

Chromosome number: 2n= 26, 28

Synonyms

Hibiscus lampas Cav. (1787), H. callosus Blume (1825), Azanza lampas (Cav.) Alefeld (1861).

Vernacular names

• Polompom (Fr)
• Indonesia: kapas utan (Indonesian), kapasan, kemiren (Javanese)
• Philippines: marakapas (Tinggian), bulak-bulakan (Tagalog), kapas-kapas (Ilokano)
• Thailand: pho paa (central), po ieo (Chiang Mai), khwaai kwaang (Chumphon).

Origin and geographic distribution

T. lampas is found in tropical East Africa, South and South-East Asia and Australia. In South and South-East Asia it occurs from India, Nepal and Sri Lanka through Burma (Myanmar), Thailand, Indo-China, southern China and Indonesia to the Philippines and New Guinea, but it is not found growing wild in Peninsular Malaysia. T. lampas is widely grown in the tropics as an ornamental, e.g. in India and Peninsular Malaysia.

Uses

Bast fibre from T. lampas is used locally for rough cordage, e.g. in Indonesia, the Philippines and Laos. In the Caroline Islands it serves for making fishing nets. In India the stems are utilized as toothbrushes. The fibre is spinnable and seems suitable for the production of coarse sacks and bags. Utilization for clothing has also been suggested.

The roots and fruits are used medicinally in India to treat gonorrhoea and syphilis. The flowers are marketed in India as a medicine for dermatological problems. The tough and pliant timber is used in India for making drums and frames.

Production and international trade

No production statistics are available for T. lampas . It is used locally and does not enter international trade.

Properties

The fibre of T. lampas resembles that of jute ( Corchorus spp.) and sunn hemp ( Crotalaria juncea L.) in appearance and properties. The ultimate fibre cells are (0.9-)1.9(-4.7) mm long, with a diameter of (12-)16-20(-21) μm. The fibre is shiny, but its colour and luster vary with extraction method and the duration and nature of subsequent chemical treatment. Fibre from stems grown in the shade is longer than that from plants grown in the sun, but the latter is stronger. The fibre of T. lampas seems more susceptible to moulds than other crude bast fibres, such as those of Abroma augusta (L.) L.f. and Sida acuta Burm.f. The tensile strength of rope made from T. lampas is low: 268 kg per cm²when dry and somewhat higher (8%) when wetted, but both results were erratic. In studies in Indo-China in the 1940s, the fibre of T. lampas , separated by retting for 15 days, contained 60% cellulose, 17% pentosans, 13% lignin and 1% ash.

The flowers contain a yellow dye, which has given good results on wool. The principal colouring compound is quercetin. The seed (9% moisture) contains 25% protein and 9-17% oil. The main constituents of seed oil are palmitic acid 18%, oleic acid 15% and linoleic acid 64%. The seed oil also contains toxic cyclopropenoid fatty acids: sterculic acid 2.1% and malvalic acid 0.6%. The gossypol content of dried plant material is high: roots 2.8%, stems 0.2%, leaves 1.0%, flower buds 2.0% and seeds 1.7%.

The 1000-seed weight is 20-25 g.

Description

An erect, slightly branched shrub or small tree, 0.5-3 m tall, densely tomentose with minute stellate hairs, glabrescent. Leaves spirally arranged; petiole 0.5-16 cm long; blade 2-22 cm × 1-25 cm, at base 5-7-veined, on base of midrib beneath with a 3-7 mm long linear nectary, entire, in lower leaves large, orbicular, base cordate, apex deeply 3-5-lobed with acuminate lobes, in upper leaves smaller, broadly ovate to oblong, often not lobed, above thinly, below densely covered with stellate hairs. Flowers solitary, axillary, or by reduction of upper leaves in long stalked racemes of 1-5 flowers; pedicel 10-35 mm long in solitary flowers, 4-8 mm in racemes, jointed above the middle; hypanthium obconical, 2.5-6 mm × 5-7 mm; epicalyx segments 4-6, free, subulate, 4-10 mm long, caducous; calyx cupular, 7-9 mm × 7-9 mm, coriaceous, ending in 5 subtriangular lobes or teeth 1-3 mm long, slightly accrescent and spreading in fruit; corolla campanulate, light yellow with a dark red-purple centre, petals 5, obovate, 6-7 cm × 5-6 cm, lower part fleshy and connate; stamens numerous, filaments united in a staminal column up to 2 cm long and dentate at apex, free part of filaments 3 mm long, anthers 1 mm long; pistil with 5-loculed ovary, style unbranched, 18 mm long, stigma clavate, 3 mm long. Fruit a globose to ovoid capsule, 2-3 cm × 2 cm, slightly pentagonous, stellately hairy, black, usually dehiscing with 5 valves, 8-14 seeds per locule. Seed angular-obovoid, 4-5 mm × 2.5 mm, glabrous, papillose, often with a ring of brown hairs around the hilum, glossy black.

Growth and development

Seedling growth of T. lampas is slow. In Laos seedlings are about 15 cm and 90 cm tall at 2 and 6 months after germination, respectively. In Java T. lampas flowers from March to July, in Indo-China and the Philippines from September to January. Regrowth after coppicing occurs easily. This makes T. lampas rather persistent and gives it some advantage over annual fibre crops which have to be sown each year. Natural populations in Laos are subjected to bush fires in February, which destroy old stems, but also cause bursting of the seed coat of deposited seeds, thus leading to abundant germination after the first rains and rejuvenation of the population.

Other botanical information

The genus Thespesia Sol. ex Correa contains about 15 species, distributed pantropically. In the Malesian region 7 species occur; 5 are endemic to New Guinea, whereas T. populnea (L.) Sol. ex Correa and T. lampas are widespread. The taxonomic position of T. lampas within Malvaceae is unclear and needs better investigation. It is closely related to section Azanza DC. in the genus Hibiscus L. T. lampas is highly variable in leaf form and hairiness, and many subdivisions have been proposed based on these characters. The differences, however, are continuous and fall within the normal pattern of variation in the species. Based on form and length of the calyx lobes, however, two varieties can be distinguished:

• var. lampas : calyx lobes subulate to triangular, 1-3 mm long, the usual situation, distribution same as the species;

• var. longisepala Borss.: calyx lobes long triangular or linear-acute, 8-10 mm long, occurring in Borneo and India.

A third variety, var. thespesioides (R. Br. ex Benth.) Fryxell (synonym Fugosia thespesioides R.Br. ex Benth.) has been recognized as a separate species, T. thespesioides (R. Br. ex Benth.) Fryxell. It differs by a 3-4-celled capsule, leaf apices acute to obtuse, calyx and capsule more densely hairy and its stellate hairs bearing more arms. It only occurs in Australia.

Ecology

T. lampas is found in humid as well as seasonally dry regions with an average annual rainfall of 1500-1700 mm. It is a light-loving plant found in Imperata fields, teak forest or secondary forest. In Java it occurs especially in relatively dry areas at altitudes up to 300 m. In the Philippines it is found in open locations at low and medium altitudes. In Laos it grows spontaneously on alluvial soils near watercourses or ponds. It thrives on fertile clayey or loamy soils, but will grow on less favourable soils if sufficient moisture is available. In India it is found at altitudes up to 1200 m.

Propagation and planting

T. lampas is easily grown from seed or cuttings. Germination is about 50% in 2 weeks. Seedlings can be transplanted when 30 cm tall. Cuttings should be rooted first in the nursery.

Husbandry

In Laos T. lampas is mostly obtained from natural populations. It has been recommended that these populations be improved by coppicing the shrubs every year, renewing the populations from seed every 10-20 years, weeding, improving drainage and protecting seedlings from fire.

Diseases and pests

In India fungi on T. lampas include Hansfordia pulvinata and Pseudocercospora thespesiae . In Indonesia several cotton ( Gossypium spp.) pests are known to feed on wild T. lampas , such as pink bollworm ( Pectinophora gossypiella , synonym: Platyedra gossypiella ), spiny bollworm ( Earias fabia ) and Amorphoidea pectoralis . Insect pests recorded on T. lampas in India include sap-feeders ( Phenacoccus glomeratus ) and defoliators (e.g. the larvae of Acontia intersepta and Sylepta derogata ).

Harvesting

In Laos only young stems not too much damaged by bush-fires are harvested from natural T. lampas populations.

Yield

No reliable and up-to-date yield data for T. lampas are available. Yields per hectare from natural populations in Laos are low; much higher yields are possible from improved natural populations or plantations.

Handling after harvest

In Java the fibre is normally used without any processing, but in Indramayu (West Java) more elaborate processing is practised. Here the bast is removed from the stems immediately after harvesting, tied in bundles and submerged in water. Sometimes the bundles are wrapped in banana leaves. Retting of unwrapped bundles takes at least a month, whereas the retting process of wrapped bundles only takes 6-7 days. Too long retting leads to a reduction in strength and a darker colour. After retting the fibres are dried in the sun and the remaining impurities are removed with a knife. In Laos the fibres are extracted by retting the stems for 15-30 days in running water. The resulting fibre usually has a reddish colour, contains much extraneous matter and is unsuitable for industrial use. When improperly retted fibres are exposed to air they turn brown, as is also the case with jute fibres. Contact with boiling water has the same effect.

Genetic resources and breeding

No germplasm collections or breeding programmes of T. lampas are known to exist.

Prospects

At present T. lampas is merely a local source of rough cordage and it is not likely that it will increase in importance. However, fibre from T. lampas is very similar to that of jute and seems suitable for the production of sacks, so it could be used to produce substitutes for imported jute products.

Literature

• Ahmad, M.S., Ahmad, M.U., Rauf, A. & Osman, S.M., 1983. Cyclopropenoid fatty acids in seed oils of Urena repanda and Thespesia lampas. Journal of the American Oil Chemists Society 60(4): 850.
• Fryxell, P.A., 1978. The natural history of the cotton tribe (Malvaceae, tribe Gossypieae). Texas A & M University Press, College Station, Texas, United States. 245 pp.
• Lukefahr, M.J. & Fryxell, P.A., 1967. Content of gossypol in plants belonging to genera related to cotton. Economic Botany 21: 128-131.
• Moquillon, M. 1939. Notes sur le polompom: dispersion, description, caractéristiques textiles et possibilités d'utilisation [Notes on the polompom: distribution, description, textile characteristics and possibilities for utilization]. L'Agronomie Coloniale 28: 161-173.
• Perumal, B., 1998. Thespesia Soland. ex Corrêa. In: Sosef, M.S.M., Hong, L.T. & Prawirohatmodjo, S. (Editors): Plant Resources of South-East Asia No 5(3). Timber trees: Lesser-known timbers. Backhuys Publishers, Leiden, the Netherlands. pp. 556-558.
• van Borssum Waalkes, J., 1966. Malesian Malvaceae revised. Blumea 14(1): 1-213.

Authors

S.H. Widodo