Weinmannia fraxinea (PROSEA)

Plant Resources of South-East Asia Introduction

List of species

Weinmannia fraxinea Smith ex D. Don

Family: Cunoniaceae

Synonyms

• Pterophylla fraxinea D. Don,
• Weinmannia sundana Heyne (non Blume, nec Miquel)

Vernacular names

• Indonesia: kulit papeda, aeru, taeru (Moluccas)

Distribution

Indonesia (Moluccas: Ambon, Bacan, Haruku, Seram). Occasionally cultivated elsewhere (e.g. in Java, Bogor Botanical Garden).

Uses

In Indonesia (Moluccas) the bark is used to flavour food and to colour it red (e.g. sago). For daily use the bark can be conserved dried. The pale yellow wood is easy to work; it is used for house construction.

Observations

• Dioecious tree, 11 m or taller, with trunk diameter 60-120 cm.
• Leaves opposite or whorled, pinnately compound; stipules persistent, reniform, up to 2 cm × 2.5 cm; leaflets 5 or 7, narrowly elliptical, 7-12 cm × 2-3 cm, asymmetrical at base, margin crenate-serrate, glabrous.
• Inflorescence a pseudoraceme, up to 12 cm long, usually in pairs at apex of branchlets.
• Pedicel about 2 mm long; flowers small, 4-merous, male one with 8 stamens, female one with 2 styles.
• Fruit a pubescent, ellipsoidal capsule, 6-7 mm long, containing 6-8 seeds.
• Seed 3 mm long, long haired.

W. fraxinea occurs in forest vegetation, from sea-level up to 1100 m altitude.

Selected sources

• Bernardi, L., 1964. Revisio generis Weinmanniae, pars 3, sectiones 3-4-5-6 (veteris orbis). Botanische Jahrbücher 83: 126-221.

• Burkill, I.H., 1935. A dictionary of the economic products of the Malay Peninsula. 2 volumes. Crown Agents for the Colonies, London, United Kingdom. 2402 pp. (slightly revised reprint, 1966. 2 volumes. Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. 2444 pp.).

• Heyne, K., 1927. De nuttige planten van Nederlandsch Indië [The useful plants of the Dutch East Indies]. 2nd edition, 3 volumes. Departement van Landbouw, Nijverheid en Handel in Nederlandsch Indië. 1953 pp. (3rd edition, 1950. van Hoeve, 's‑Gravenhage/Bandung, the Netherlands/Indonesia. 1660 pp.).

Authors

P.C.M. Jansen