Polyalthia suberosa (Roxb.) Thwaites

Species

Angiosperms > Magnoliales > Annonaceae > Polyalthia

Characteristics

Shrubs or small trees, to 5 m tall. Bark corky, ridged. Branchlets dark red, rust-colored pubescent when young, glabrescent, with pink lenticels and corky ridges when older. Petiole 2-4 mm, puberulent; leaf blade oblong, elliptic-oblong, or narrowly obovate-oblong, 5-11 × 2-4 cm, membranous to papery, abaxially pale brown when dry and glabrescent, adaxially gray and glabrous except for sparse pubescence along midvein, secondary veins 8-10 on each side of midvein, spreading, and inconspicuous on both surfaces, reticulate veins lax and inconspicuous, base narrowed and slightly oblique, apex subobtuse to rounded and sometimes abruptly shortly acuminate. Inflorescences extra-axillary, leaf-opposed, or slightly below leaf, 1(or 2)-flowered. Pedicel 0.7-2.5 cm, puberulent; bracteole near base of pedicel, minute, apex acute. Sepals ovate-triangular, 2-2.5 mm, outside pubescent, inside glabrous. Petals yellowish green; outer petals oblong-lanceolate, shorter than inner petals, leathery, flat and spreading, outside slightly pubescent, inside glabrous, apex acute; inner petals oblong, erect and curved, ca. 10 mm, apex obtuse. Stamens many, ca. 1 mm; connectives apically convex. Carpels many, ca. 2 mm, pubescent; ovules 1 or 2 per carpel; styles widening into a thickly triangular bladelike glabrous stigma. Monocarp stipes 8-10 mm, slender; monocarps to 18, red, almost spherical, ca. 5 mm in diam., sparsely appressed pubescent or glabrescent. Seeds 1 or 2 per monocarp, with a longitudinal circumferential band. Fl. almost year-round, fr. Jun-Dec. 2n = 18.
More
A tree or shrub. It grows 2-4 m high. The bark is thick and corky and deeply ridged. The leaves are oval or oblong and rounded at the tip. The edges are wavy. The leaves are 2-12 cm long and 1-3 cm wide. The flowers are pale yellow. They occur singly among the leaves. The fruit are in clusters. The fruit is reddish-purple. It is 6 mm across. They contain 1 or 2 seeds. The fruit are edible.
Life form perennial
Growth form
Growth support free-standing
Foliage retention
Sexuality hermaphrodite
Pollination -
Spread -
Mature width (meter) -
Mature height (meter) 4.0 - 4.5
Root system -
Rooting depth (meter) -
Root diameter (meter) -
Flower color
Blooming months -
Fruit color -
Fruiting months
JanFebMar
AprMayJun
JulAugSep
OctNovDec
Nitrogen fixer -
Photosynthetic pathway -

Environment

Open forests at lower elevations in China. Common in thickets at low and medium elevations in the Philippines. Along ravines in dry forests.
More
A tropical plant. It grows in open forest at lower elevations. In XTBG Yunnan.
Light -
Soil humidity -
Soil texture -
Soil acidity -
Soil nutriment -
Hardiness (USDA) 8-12

Usage

The young leaves are eaten as a fresh vegetable. The ripe fruit are eaten raw.
Uses medicinal wood
Edible fruits leaves
Therapeutic use Anti-bacterial agents (bark), Anti-HIV agents (leaf), Anti-HIV agents (stem), Abortifacient (unspecified)
Human toxicity -
Animal toxicity -

Cultivation

Plants can be grown from seeds.
Mode seedlings
Germination duration (days) -
Germination temperacture (C°) -
Germination luminosity -
Germination treatment -
Minimum temperature (C°) -
Optimum temperature (C°) -
Size -
Vigor -
Productivity -

Distribution

Polyalthia suberosa world distribution map, present in China, India, Kenya, Sri Lanka, Myanmar, Malaysia, Philippines, Thailand, and United States of America

Identifiers

LSID urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:74734-1
WFO ID wfo-0001066143
COL ID 4KZRM
BDTFX ID -
INPN ID -
Wikipedia (EN)
Wikipedia (FR)

Synonyms

Guatteria suberosa Polyalthia suberosa Uvaria suberosa