Chydenanthus excelsus Miers

Trees, up to 30 m high, c. 50 cm diam. Bark smooth, greyish brown. Branchlets up to 5 mm thick, greyish brown or brown, striate, lenticellate. Axillary buds 3-4 mm long, pubescent. Leaves: petiole flat with sharp margin above, convex below, 10-20 mm long, c. 2 mm thick, very dark brown when dry, greyish brown when fresh; blade elliptic to elliptic oblong, rarely elliptic-obovate or obovate, (4-)7-26(-130) by (1.2-)3-8(-11.5) cm, papyraceous to coriaceous, membranaceous when young, base generally cuneate, sometimes rounded, margin slightly plicate below, apex acuminate, acumen up to 15 mm long, tip blunt; midrib strongly prominent beneath, prominulous or flat above; lateral nerves 7-15 pairs, angles with the midrib about 50°, prominent beneath, prominulous or sometimes obscure above, arcuate and anastomosing near margin, often branched, tertiary nerves distinct, reticulation visible or sometimes obscure above. Inflorescences up to 18 cm long; rachis greyish brown, striate, often lenticellate, c. 5 mm diam.; pedicel up to 5 mm long, c. 3 mm thick, velutinous; bracts triangular, c. 5 by 3 mm; bracteoles 2, opposite, c. 3 by 2.5 mm. Calyx tube up to 2 cm long after anthesis; lobes ciliate, velutinous outside, glabrous inside. Petals obovate, c. 3 by 1.5 cm, apex rounded, veined, thinly papyraceous, membranaceous at the margin, greenish white when fresh, dark brown when dry, pulverulent to pubescent outside (in bud). Stamens: filaments yellow (fresh), very slender, up to 45 cm long, tube c. 0.5 cm long. Fruits bluntly quadrangular, elongate ellipsoid or obovoid, c. 12 by 6 cm, lenticellate or warty, puberulous; pericarp up to 1 cm thick; pedicel thickened, c. 5 cm long, c. 8 mm thick. Seeds ellipsoid.

A tropical plant. It grows in forests and mangroves. It grows between 10-200 m above sea level.

Uses The wood of this species is of little economic value. It is strong but not very durable; the specific gravity is 0.66. The bark is fatally poisonous (Greshoff 1893). Seeds contain chydenantine, a glycoside (Duyster 1923), and according to Van Dongen (1913) they can be used as a fish poison and a medicine against diarrhoea. The phytochemical and pharmacological properties of this species are amply given by Boorsma (1908) and Duyster (1923).

Plants can be grown by seeds.