Volume 7 > Part 3 > Year 2001 > Page 602 > Sterculiaceae > Pterospermum

1. Pterospermum acerifolium Willd.wfo-0000476033

Sp. Pl. 3: 729. 1880; Mast. in Fl. Brit. Ind. 1: 368. 1874; Kurz, Fl. Burm. 1: 145. 1877; Craib in Fl. Siam. Enum. 1: 175. 1925; Kou mei, Fl. Reipubl. Popularis Sin. 49(2): 173. 1984. Fig. 91.

Accepted Name : This is currently accepted.

Description : Tree, 15–30 m high, usually with straight bole, buttressed; bark greyish, smooth; young twigs slender and terete with prominently raised leaf scars, hairy then glabrescent. Leaves peltate, 20–30 x 17–24 cm, rounded or obtuse at both ends, coriaceous, hairy then glabrescent except along nerves on the upper surface, hairy on lower surface; nerves and scalariform vein strongly prominent on lower surface. Flower buds oblong, ca 2 x 0.7 cm, surrounded by 3 persisting laciniate and hairy, 2–3 x 1–1.5 cm bracts. Sepals 5, lanceolate, 5–6 x 0.5 cm, hairy on both surfaces. Petals 5, white or yellowish, slightly spathulate, 4.5–5 x 0.6–0.8 cm, free, glabrous on both surfaces. Stamens 15, up to 4 cm long; staminodes 5, with pellucid glands along filaments. Ovary ovoid, ca 10 x 4 mm, hairy; 5 locules, each with many ovules; style slender, up to 5 cm long, glabrous; stigmas 5, twisted. Fruits woody, oblong ca 18 x 7.5 cm, with 5 prominent longitudinal angles. Seeds many, ovate with a thin wing, ca 5 x 1.5 cm.

Thailand : NORTHERN: Chiang Mai, Phrae; NORTH-EASTERN: Phetchabun, Khon Kaen; PENINSULAR: Krabi, Narathiwat.

Distribution : India (type), Burma, S China.

Ecology : In evergreen forests, 50–400 m alt. Flowering: February–April; fruiting: March–June.

Vernacular : Champa khaek (จำปาแขก), po tao (ปอเต๊า), po tup bu chang (ปอตูบหูช้าง), sak ka thao (สากกะเท้า), sanan dong (สนานคง), tongtao (ตองเต้า)(Northern); hu khwai (หูควาย), kanan pling (กะหนานปลิง)(Southwestern); salak ka phat (สลัดกะพาด)(Central).

Uses: Timber used for interior construction and fuelwood.

E-version notes : As Pterospermum acerifolium (L.) Willd.—Pentapetes acerifolia L., Sp. Pl.: 698. 1753.