Volume 7 > Part 3 > Year 2001 > Page 628 > Sterculiaceae > Sterculia

3. Sterculia foetida L.wfo-0000491589

Sp. Pl.: 1008. 1753; Mast. in Fl. Brit. Ind. 1: 354. 1874; Kurz, Fl. Burm. 1: 135. 1877; Gagnep. in Fl. Gén. I.-C. 1: 461. 1911; Ridl., Fl. Malay Penins. 1: 268. 1922; Craib in Fl. Siam. Enum. 1: 166. 1925; Tantra in Pengum. Lemba. Penel. Hutan (Bogor) 102: 44. 1976; Kou-mei, Fl. Reipubl. Popularis Sin. 49(2): 120, fig. 32. 1984. Fig. 105; Plate XXIII: A, D.

Accepted Name : This is currently accepted.

Description : Deciduous tree, up to 30 m high; always with straight clear bole; bark smooth, brownish-grey; twigs stout, pubescent, with prominently raised, large leaf scars. Stipules subulate, caducous. Leaves digitate, with (5–6–7) leaflets, leaflet elliptic or elliptic-oblong, coriaceous, glabrous or glabrescent; 10–20 x 3.5–6 cm, apex acute or cuspidate, base cuneate, secondary nerves arched, anastomosing and conspicuous on both sides; petiolules ca 5 mm long. Petiole 13–20 cm long, glabrous. Inflorescences terminal and at upper leaf scars, always lax, 10–30 cm long. Flower buds ovoid, ca 10 x 5 mm; pedicel 1–1.5 cm long, glabrous. Calyx obconical, 5-lobed; lobes spreading 10–15 x 3–4 mm, hairy especially near apex. Male flowers with 14(–15) stamens on a globose head; staminodes 14. Female flowers with 5 free carpels, each ovate, hairy, with ca 20-ovules; styles cohering, ca 5 mm long, hairy; stigmas 5 lobes or flattened. Follicles (3–)5 kidney-shaped, woody, brick-red and glabrous at maturity, 8–10 x 6–9 cm, dehiscing. Seeds ca 20, cylindrical, 2.5 by 1.3 cm, black.

Thailand : NORTHERN: Chiang Mai; EASTERN: Surin; CENTRAL: Suphan Buri, Krung Thep Maha Nakhon (Bangkok) (cultivated); SOUTH-EASTERN: Chon Buri, Trat; PENINSULAR: Phangnga, Songkhla.

Distribution : India (type), Ceylon, Burma, Vietnam, Cambodia, Malay Peninsula, Indonesia, the Philippines, Eastern Africa, N Australia.

Ecology : In evergreen forests, open areas, and rocky sea coast, 0–300 m alt. Flowering and fruiting: December–April.

Vernacular : Chamma hong (จำมะโฮง)(Northern); samrong (สำโรง)(Central, Eastern); homrong (โหมโรง), marong (มะโรง)(Peninsular).

Uses: Wood greyish brown used for indoor construction, boxes, tooth picks; oil from seed for food and light.