Phytocrene oblonga Wall.

Climber to top of tall trees, with rather slender stem (up to 1.5 cm ø); bark brownish, rather rough, striate, not prickly. Branchlets densely set with fine retrorse prickly lenticels, tip short-pubescent. Leaves oblong or oblong-lanceolate, ± abruptly and shortly acuminate, acumen rather slender and slightly curved, subacute, base cu-neate to rounded, coriaceous, glabrous and shining above, rather densely stiffly short-hairy and a little rough to the touch beneath, early glabrescent, entire or undulate-subdentate, (10-)12-22 by (4-)5-9 cm, nerves 5-7 pairs, one of which basal, ascending and ± manifestly inarching before the edge, prominent as is the rather dense reticulation beneath; petiole rugose, 1-2.5 cm by 2-3 mm. ♂ Panicles axillary, or mostly clustered on woody tubercles on the stem or larger branches, consisting of numerous pedicelled few-flowered, more laxly or densely arranged um-bellules, all over patently rusty to rufous-tomen-tose, 2.5-5 cm by (0.5-)1-1.5 cm; pedicels slender to more stoutish, 2-5 mm, each subtended by a subulate bract as long as or shorter than the pedicel, which is generally hidden in the cluster of flowers. Calyx segments 4 or 5, oblong-ovate, free, 1 mm. Petals 4, almost free, oblong-ovate to obovate, glabrous and yellow-green inside, rufous-sericeous outside, c. 1.8 mm. Stamens 4; anther cells 0.3-0.5 mm. ♀ Flowers (often diseased) in peduncled globose heads (c. 8 mm ø), borne on stem and branches, peduncle stout, set with subulate bracts, c. 1 cm, all parts of the inflorescence brownish-rufous-tomentose as are the ♂ ones. Calyx segments linear, 2 mm. Petals subspathulate, base slightly connate, 3 mm. Ovary cylindric, apex somewhat contracted into a very short thick style, tomentose; stigmas (2-)3-4, flattish, glabrous, spreading. Drupes in globular orange coloured clusters 6-9(-11) cm ø, each drupe ovoid to ovoid-oblongoid, obtuse, the very apex only ± apiculate by the style, covered especially in the upper part with stout straight reddish-brown subulate prickles (5-8 mm) which after falling leave numerous circular pits (c. 1 mm ø) in the endocarp, (3-)3.5(-4) by 2-2.5 cm incl. the prickles; exocarp coriaceous; endocarp crusta-ceous, slightly tubercled inside, c. 2.5 by 1.5 cm.

It is a tropical plant. It grows in the lowland rainforest up to 150 m altitude.

Uses. The leaves are used by Malay natives for fever headache. The caustic seed is reported to be edible.