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Buchanania arborescens Blume

Species

Angiosperms > Sapindales > Anacardiaceae > Buchanania

Characteristics

A medium sized evergreen tree. It grows 10-15 m high and with a spread of 3 m. The tree shape is like a cone, not an umbrella. It has round branches and a smooth tip. The leaves come one after the other around the branch and are crowded near the ends of branches. The young shoots are covered with silky hairs. New growth is bronze red. The leaves are darker green on the upper surface. They are shiny and stiff and look like mango leaves. The leaves are 5-26 cm long by 2-7 cm wide. The veins and mid rib show up clearly. The leaf stalk is 4-6 cm long. The flowers are dull white to cream and very small (0.2-0.4 cm long) in long flowering branches. These flowering branches occur on the ends of branches or in the angles of upper leaves. At flowering time the whole tree has a white display of flowers. The flowers have a sweet smell. Only one of the five female flower parts is fertile producing fruit. The fruit are berries (drupes) and on short stalks. They are hard, smooth and dull red or purple. They are about 1 cm across and flattish. It is an attractive ornamental and shade producing tree.
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Tree 4-35 m high and 10-75(-120) cm Ø; buttresses sometimes present, low, rounded, rarely up to 1 m high, 2 m extending outward from the trunk, and 10 cm thick. Leaves obovate to oblanceolate, or elliptic-oblong, 4½-26(-35) by 1¾-7(-9) cm, hairy beneath especially on the midrib when young, glabrescent; base cuneate to attenuate; apex usually obtuse or rounded, rarely apiculate, acute, or emarginate, rarely acuminate; nerves 7-18(-30) pairs, veins reticulate or reticulate-scalariform; petiole 1-3(-4) cm. Panicles 5½-22 cm long, hairy, glabrescent; bracts ovate or subro-tund, ½-⅔ mm long, sparsely hairy outside and ciliate on the margin, glabrescent, or glabrous; pedicels (l-)2-4 mm, usually not articulated. Flowers white. Calyx usually caducous, lobes broad-ovate or subrotund, ⅔-l mm long. Petals elliptic, 2½-3½ by 1¼-l¾ mm. Stamens 2½-3 mm; filaments 1¾-2½ mm, apically contracted and whitish; anthers ⅔-1 mm, sagittate, lower ⅓(-½) sterile. Disk ⅔-1 mm long. Carpels 1½-2 mm long. Drupe sublentiform, c. 10 mm Ø.
Tree to 15 m high (in Australia). Branchlets pubescent, glabrescent. Leaves obovate, oblong-obovate or oblanceolate, obtuse, sometimes acuminate, subcoriaceous, glabrous; lamina usually 5–26 cm long, 2–7 cm wide; base narrowly cuneate, decurrent; secondary veins mostly 9–22 pairs; tertiary veins scalariform-reticulate; petiole ± plano-convex, 0.5–2.5 cm long. Panicles to 22 cm long, ± appressed-pubescent, glabrescent; pedicels articulate 0.5–1 mm below base of calyx, or not articulate, sometimes with subtending bracts. Calyx lobes broadly ovate or rounded, 0.7–1 mm long, glabrous. Petals oblong-elliptic, 3–4 mm long, glabrous. Anthers 1–1.8 mm long; filaments 0.9–1.2 mm long. Carpels to 1.5 mm long; fertile one pilose. Drupe c. 10 mm diam.
Evergreen trees; branchlets minutely yellowish pubescent to subglabrous. Petiole 2-2.5 cm; leaf blade obovate-oblong to obovate-elliptic, 8-18 × 4-6 cm, leathery, glabrous, base cuneate, margin entire, apex rounded, lateral veins 10-15 pairs, prominent on both sides. Panicle terminal or axillary, 8-10 cm, minutely ferruginous pubescent. Flowers white. Calyx glabrous, lobes suborbicular, ca. 1 mm with ciliate margins. Petals elliptic to suborbicular, 3-4 mm, fleshy. Stamens equal to petals in length; filaments linear to subulate, longer than anthers; anthers sagittate. Disk large and thick. Carpels 5, minutely pubescent. Drupe lens-shaped, ca. 8 mm, glabrous. Fl. Mar, fr. Jul.
Life form perennial
Growth form tree
Growth support free-standing
Foliage retention evergreen
Sexuality hermaphrodite
Pollination -
Spread -
Mature width (meter) -
Mature height (meter) 12.5 - 17.5
Root system -
Rooting depth (meter) -
Root diameter (meter) -
Flower color
Blooming months
JanFebMar
AprMayJun
JulAugSep
OctNovDec
Fruit color -
Fruiting months
JanFebMar
AprMayJun
JulAugSep
OctNovDec
Nitrogen fixer -
Photosynthetic pathway c3

Environment

A tropical plant. They are found throughout the islands of the Philippines in the lower wooded regions. It is also native to Australia occurring in the northern tip regions. It prefers rich, moist, well drained soils in a sunny position but often occurs on sandstone hills. Often trees are found near monsoon forest beside freshwater streams. It gets damaged by both drought and frost. It is very frost sensitive. In north Thailand it grows below 1,200 m above sea level. It can be in mangrove swamps and coastal thickets.
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Chiefly in lowland forest, along riverbanks, near the beach, peat-swamps and dryland, sometimes on limestone hills and in secondary forest, up to 300 m, rarely at 540 m (Sabah). Fl. fr. Jan.-Dec, in Malaya mainly fl. April-June. In flower the crown becomes cream-white and very conspicuous (CORNER).
Grows in open forest, gallery and littoral forest, evergreen and semideciduous vine forest.
Light -
Soil humidity -
Soil texture -
Soil acidity -
Soil nutriment -
Hardiness (USDA) 8-12

Usage

Uses. The wood is used for interior finishing, light construction, joints, rafters, furniture, boxes, cases, and veneers, all in all of rather inferior quality ( HEYNE Nutt. Pl. 1927 965 ). Common names: balinghasai, Philippines, satin-wood, Papua New Guinea (cf. ROYEN, l.c.; LOMIBAO & MENIADO, l.c.). BURKILL Dict. 1935 378 added a few minor uses on tannin bark and leaves for curing head-ache.
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The fruit are eaten raw. They are sweet. The fruit can be used to make drinks.
Uses animal food environmental use food fuel invertebrate food material medicinal social use wood
Edible fruits
Therapeutic use Headache (unspecified)
Human toxicity -
Animal toxicity -

Cultivation

It can be grown from seed or by cuttings. Seeds should be planted in well drained soil. It needs to be kept well watered.
Mode seedlings
Germination duration (days) -
Germination temperacture (C°) -
Germination luminosity -
Germination treatment -
Minimum temperature (C°) -
Optimum temperature (C°) -
Size -
Vigor -
Productivity -

Images

Leaf

Buchanania arborescens leaf picture by Noel Dionson (cc-by-sa)

Fruit

Buchanania arborescens fruit picture by Noel Dionson (cc-by-sa)

Distribution

Buchanania arborescens world distribution map, present in Argentina, Australia, China, India, Myanmar, Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands, Thailand, and Taiwan, Province of China

Conservation status

Buchanania arborescens threat status: Least Concern

Identifiers

LSID urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:69275-1
WFO ID wfo-0000573371
COL ID NMBD
BDTFX ID -
INPN ID -
Wikipedia (EN) Link
Wikipedia (FR)

Synonyms

Buchanania bancana Buchanania decandra Buchanania intermedia Buchanania lucida Buchanania novohibernica Buchanania palembanica Buchanania papuana Buchanania petiolaris Buchanania platyphylla Buchanania polybotrya Buchanania scandens Buchanania subobovata Buchanania versteeghii Buchanania florida Buchanania glaberrima Buchanania monticola Buchanania nabirensis Buchanania angustifolia Buchanania arborescens Buchanania x attopeuensis Coniogeton arborescens Buchanania florida var. arborescens Buchanania florida var. attopeuensis Buchanania florida var. cumingii Buchanania florida var. dongnaiensis Buchanania florida var. lucida Buchanania florida var. petiolaris Buchanania lucida var. laxiflora Buchanania lucida var. polembanica Buchanania longifolia Buchanania longifolia Buchanania muelleri Buchanania florida var. arborescens Buchanania pseudoflorida Buchanania solomonensis Buchanania arborescens
WorldFloraDB 2024