Allophylus cobbe (L.) Raeusch.

Mostly a shrub (sometimes straggling to lian-oid) or treelet, more rarely a tree up to 25 m high, dbh 30 cm. Twigs terete, 3-8 mm in diameter, rather smooth to pustular-lenticellate, either glabrous with the exception of the sparsely appressedly hairy ter-minal bud, or ± persistently thinly to densely cov-ered with often stellately tufted, appressed to pat-ent, short, fulvous hairs; the glabrous parts at first shining reddish to blackish brown, later on silvery-to yellowish grey to reddish brown. Leaves mostly 3-foliolate, sometimes part or all of them 1-or 5-foliolate (if 1-foliolate, then lateral leaflets often represented by minute, subulate appendages); petiole terete (rarely quadrangular), mostly flattened to grooved above especially at apex and base, 4.5-20 cm long, 1-3.5 mm thick, indumentum usually like the twig at a slightly earlier stage; petiolules 0-25 mm, the terminal one either of the same length, or up to 4 times as long as the lateral ones, indumentum like that of the petiole. Leaflets ellip-tic or oblong, more rarely lanceolate, laterals of-ten ovate and oblique, terminal sometimes obovate, 2.5-35 by 1.5-22 cm (terminal one slightly to dis-tinctly larger than the laterals), nearly membranous to fleshy or coriaceous, when dry above greenish to greyish or dark brown and dull to shining, be-neath light green to reddish brown and dull (sometimes even glaucous) to shining, glabrous to (especially beneath) densely velvety, moreover often bearded in the axils of the nerves (when glabrous often with a distinct gland) and sometimes also of the veins; base cunéate to rounded, often slightly decurrent, in the terminal leaflet always narrower than in the laterals, in the latter hardly to distinctly oblique; apex ± tapering acuminate; margin entire or (mostly sparsely) serrate, crenate, or dentate, sometimes lobed-dentate (mainly in Philippine races); midrib hardly prominent to keeled above, prom-inent beneath, nerves 6-15 per side, slanting, looped and joined near the margin or not, venation usually rather inconspicuous above, hardly conspic-uous to prominent beneath. Inflorescences axillary, solitary or rarely 2 in one axil, simple to thyrsoid, up to 40 cm long, glabrous to densely pubescent, hairs mostly not distinctly stellately fascicled; peduncle usually about ⅓-1/5 of the total length, laxly to densely branched, flowers in subsessile to short-stalked, few-to rather many-flowered, um-bel-like dichasia or sometimes in comb-like cincin-ni, in the upper part often solitary; bracts mostly minute, sometimes longer than the pedicels, subu-late, slender. Sepals 1-2.5 by 0.8-2 mm (the inner ones hardly longer, but distinctly broader than the outer), green to whitish, entire to denticulate, most-ly ciliolate, outside glabrous to sparsely appressed short-hairy mainly in the central part. Petals nail-shaped to spathulate, 1-2.2 mm, white, the claw about ⅔ of the entire length, blade entire to bilobed, scale very small to nearly equalling the blade, nearly glabrous to densely woolly along the whole margin of the petal, and especially of the scale, the latter moreover often bearded. Disc in female flowers sometimes saucer-shaped, usually lobed, 0.2-0.8 mm high, glabrous or sometimes puberulous, orange. Stamens c. 8, subequal, in male flowers exserted; filaments mostly sparsely woolly in the lower part; anthers about 0.5 mm. Pistil in female flowers: ovary deeply 2-(or 3-)lobed, lobes obovoid, smooth or rough, glabrous or minutely stellate-fascicled hairy, or sparsely to densely pilose by appressed, long, stiff hairs; style 1-1.5 mm long, glabrous or pilose up to the stigmatic lobes; stigma with 2 (or 3) spreading, fairly long, rarely bifurcate lobes. Fruits mostly with only 1 meri-carp developed, globular (smaller ones) to obovoid and narrowed at the base (larger ones), 4.5-12.5 by 3.5-8 mm, smooth to slightly wrinkled, red (black to brown when dry), somewhat fleshy and almost glabrous when ripe.

A tropical plant. It occurs in coastal places in the tropics in rainforests. It suits humid locations. Plants are very frost tender. Plants require a protected site in a well drained soil. It grows from sea level to 1,300 m above sea level.

Uses The wood is reported to be very hard but not very durable; it is mainly used as a timber for temporary structures and indoors, e.g. for raft-ers. Canes and hilts are made from the wood, as well as beaters for the cotton fruits (Mindoro). In the Bismarck Archipelago, poles and branches are used for floats of outrigger canoes and for mark-ing the location of fish traps. Also used as fire-wood.The pulped leaves, or an extraction or decoction of them, as well as a decoction of the roots and the bark, are used in native medicine against stomach-ache and fever. In Perak, a disease inside the mouth of children is cured with it. In Minda-nao, the scraped bark is applied to rigid abdomen, the bark to burns. The berries, though a bit sour, are eaten. In New Guinea fruits are used as a fish poison. See Burkill Diet. Econ. Prod. Malay Penins. 1935 104 Heyne Nutt. Pl. Indon. ed. 3 1950 988 .

Plants are grown from seed. Seed should be sown while fresh. They can also be grown by sections of the root.