Cordia sinensis Lam.

Species

Angiosperms > Boraginales > Boraginaceae > Cordia

Characteristics

Tangled shrub or usually a spreading often several-stemmed tree 3–10(–12) m. tall; young stems ridged, slightly pubescent; young bark pale, smooth but later brownish grey or yellowish brown to almost black, densely longitudinally fissured and very rough; innovations often ± velvety, fawn-coloured.. Leaf-blades typically narrowly oblong-elliptic or oblanceolate to oblanceolate-obovate, mostly rather longer than in species 16, 1.5–11 cm. long, 0.6–4 cm. wide, rounded at the apex, rounded to cuneate at the base, entire or crenate near apex or rarely crenate all round, glabrous to pubescent and sometimes slightly scabrid above, nearly always with longer hairs in the nerve-axils and along the midrib beneath; occasionally somewhat asperous on both surfaces; petiole distinctly developed, up to 1.3(–1.8) cm. long.. Flowers sweet-scented in rather laxer panicles than in species 16, 6.5 × 7 cm.; peduncles and secondary axes up to 1.5–3 cm. long; pedicels 2 mm. long.. Calyx glabrous to pubescent outside; tube cylindric-campanulate, 4–4.2 mm. long including 0.5–1 mm. long low rounded lobes.. Corolla creamy white; tube 5 mm. long.. Male: corolla-lobes oblong, 4.5 mm. long, 1.5 mm. wide; filaments exserted 3.5 mm.. Female: corolla-lobes 3–4 mm. long, 1.3–1.5 mm. wide; filaments 2.2 mm. long; style 2.5 mm. long with branches 2 mm. long and stigmatic branches 2–4 mm. long.. Fruit yellow, orange or bright red, 0.7–1.3 cm. long, 7–9 mm. wide, mucilaginous and edible.. Fig. 4/8, 9, p.16.
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A tangled shrub or small tree. It loses its leaves during the year. It is 3-12 m tall. The trunk is crooked. It has many branches and these often droop over. The bark is grey and smooth when young. It later becomes dark and roughly grooved. The leaves are grey-green. They are narrow and oblong. They can be 9 cm long. They feel rough to touch and have hairs on both sides. The tip of the leaf is rounded. The leaf stalk is 1 cm long. Leaves are almost opposite. The flowers are small and like tubes. The 4 or 5 petals are bent backwards. They are fused into a short tube at the base. The flowers are creamy white. They have a sweet smell. The flowers occur in clusters at the ends of branches. They grow on branched hairy stalks. The fruit is oval and 2 cm long. It has a tip at the end and is held in a cup of leaves (calyx). The fruit is orange-red and has a sticky edible pulp. There are 1-4 tiny seeds. The seeds are embedded in a clear pulp.
Leaves opposite, subopposite or alternate; petiole 0.3–1.0(1.5) cm. long usually with some long pale hairs; lamina 3–9 x 1.0–4.5 cm., narrowly obovate to elliptic, rarely oblanceolate, with minute bulbous-based appressed or slightly ascending hairs and sometimes with scattered white bristles to subglabrous but often dotted with groups of cystoliths above, with minute bulbous-based hairs appressed in all directions or pubescent to subglabrous but usually with dense long hairs on the axils of the secondary nerves and along the midrib (sometimes not much evident) below, obtuse to rounded and sometimes retuse at apex, acute to obtuse and often slightly asymmetrical at base, margins entire to crenate or serrate to the upper half, papery to leathery, greyish-green or yellowish-green, with 5–7 secondary nerves on each side of the midrib.
Small tree or shrub, 4-8 m high. Leaves opposite to alternate, narrowly obovate to elliptic, above rough and often densely covered with cystoliths, below with short ± appressed hairs in all directions and longer hairs in axils and along midrib. Calyx smooth, pubescent or minutely fulvous-tomentose outside. Flowers white; January to February and in May and August.
Fruit 12–15 x 8–11 mm., ovoid or ellipsoid, apiculate, glabrous, yellow, orange or reddish when ripe, surrounded at the lower third by the widely enlarged, usually cream, campanulate calyx; mesocarp fleshy; pyrene c. 8 x 7 mm., ± rhomboidal or quadrangular in cross section, 1–3 seeded.
A shrub usually up to 4 m. or a bushy tree up to 8 m. high; branchlets angular, fulvous-tomentellous to subglabrous when young, glabrescent, often cream becoming grey or brown and lenticellate with age.
Panicle 1.5–6.0 cm. long, little-branched, terminal or axillary; rhachis and branches minutely fulvous-tomentose with scattered long pale hairs to pubescent, often glabrescent.
Corolla white, glabrous; tube 2.5–4.0 mm. long, cylindrical; lobes 4, 3.0–4.0 x 1.2–2.0 mm., oblong to narrowly obovate, rounded at apex, reflexed.
Ovary c. 2 mm. long, ovoid, glabrous; style 5–7 mm. long, first-forked at 2.0–2.5 mm. and with stigmatic branches 2–3 mm. long, clavate.
Calyx 4–5 mm. long, narrowly campanulate, irregularly 3–5-toothed, pubescent or minutely fulvous-tomentose outside, strigose inside.
Stamens 4, inserted at the corolla-throat; filaments 2–3 mm. long, glabrous; anthers c. 1.5 mm. long, oblong.
Flowers male on pedicels 0.5–1.5 mm. long.
Pending.
Life form perennial
Growth form tree
Growth support free-standing
Foliage retention -
Sexuality hermaphrodite
Pollination -
Spread -
Mature width (meter) -
Mature height (meter) 4.0 - 8.5
Root system -
Rooting depth (meter) -
Root diameter (meter) -
Flower color
Blooming months
JanFebMar
AprMayJun
JulAugSep
OctNovDec
Fruit color
Fruiting months -
Nitrogen fixer -
Photosynthetic pathway -

Environment

A tropical plant. It is widespread in Africa at low altitudes and in dry areas. It is more common in dry river beds. It can grow on sandy or salty soils. In Africa it grows from sea level to 1,400 m above sea level. In Tanzania it grows in areas with a rainfall between 600-1,000 mm. It can grow in arid places. It grows on gravelly soils and in wasteland. It is drought hardy. In Pakistan it is found in dry areas up to 300 m above sea level. It grows in the lowlands and often along rivers.
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In grasslands, open deciduous woodlands and riverbanks, usually on sandy or rocky soils or on termitaries, at elevations up to 100 metres. It prefers moist river beds but is also found on termite mounds and in littoral scrub
Light -
Soil humidity -
Soil texture 5-8
Soil acidity -
Soil nutriment -
Hardiness (USDA) 8-12

Usage

The fruit is eaten green as a vegetable or pickled. They are sweet and sticky. The skin is removed and the seeds are not eaten. They are added to porridge instead of sugar. The roots are eaten raw. The clear gum from the tree is edible. The ripe fruit is eaten raw. The fruit are fermented into beer.
Uses animal food environmental use fiber food food additive fuel gene source gum invertebrate food material medicinal poison social use wood
Edible barks fruits gums leaves roots seeds
Therapeutic use Central nervous system depressants (aerial part), Astringents (bark), Mouthwashes (bark), Toothache (bark), Fever (flower), Headache (flower), Stomatitis (flower), Anthelmintics (fruit), Constipation (fruit), Disorder of ejaculation (fruit), Fever (fruit), Hemorrhoids (fruit), Toothache (fruit), Asthenia (leaf), Disorder of ejaculation (leaf), Fever (leaf), Toothache (stem), Astringent (unspecified), Gargle (unspecified), Cardiovascular system (whole plant excluding root), Hypothermia (whole plant excluding root)
Human toxicity -
Animal toxicity -

Cultivation

It can be grown from seed or cuttings. Plants also grow naturally. (There are 14,000 seeds per kg.) When seed are sown fresh no treatment is necessary. For stored seed they should have warm water poured over them then be allowed to soak before being planted. Seed can be stored for 3 months at room temperature. It is best to plant seeds where they are to grow.
Mode seedlings
Germination duration (days) -
Germination temperacture (C°) -
Germination luminosity -
Germination treatment -
Minimum temperature (C°) -
Optimum temperature (C°) -
Size -
Vigor -
Productivity -

Images

Flower

Cordia sinensis flower picture by Maarten Vanhove (cc-by-sa)

Distribution

Cordia sinensis world distribution map, present in Angola, Australia, Burkina Faso, Botswana, Djibouti, Egypt, Ethiopia, Ghana, India, Israel, Kenya, Sri Lanka, Madagascar, Mali, Myanmar, Mozambique, Mauritania, Nigeria, Oman, Pakistan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Senegal, Somalia, South Sudan, Chad, Togo, Tanzania, United Republic of, Uganda, Yemen, South Africa, Zambia, and Zimbabwe

Conservation status

Cordia sinensis threat status: Least Concern

Identifiers

LSID urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:114552-1
WFO ID wfo-0000620977
COL ID 6B2KH
BDTFX ID -
INPN ID -
Wikipedia (EN) Link
Wikipedia (FR) Link

Synonyms

Lithocardium rothii Cordia gharaf Gerascanthus gharaf Gerascanthus sinensis Cordia cuneata Cordia rothii Cordia sinensis Cordia subopposita Cornus gharaf Quarena sinensis Cordia reticulata Cordia gharaf var. quercifolia Cordia angustifolia