Volume 8 > Part 1 > Year 2005 > Page 140 > Euphorbiaceae > Breynia

7. Breynia vitis-idaea (Burm.f.) C.E.C.Fischerwfo-0000415036

Bull. Misc. Inform. Kew 1932: 65. 1932; Airy Shaw, Kew Bull. 26: 227. 1972; Whitmore, Tree Fl. Malaya 2: 73. 1973; Chakrab. & M.G.Gangop., J. Econ. Taxon. Bot. 20: 509, fig. 4. 1996; Welzen & Esser in Welzen et al., Thai Forest Bull., Bot. 28: 77. 2000.— Rhamnus vitis-idaea Burm.f., Fl. Ind.: 61. 1768, pro parte quoad lectotypus.

Accepted Name : This is currently accepted.

Synonyms & Citations :

Description : Shrub to treelet up to 5 m high, sometimes struggling to climbing, glabrous. Stipules 5–2 by 0.6–0.8 mm. Leaves: petiole 2–3 mm long; blade elliptic to ovate, 2–5.5 by 0.9–3 cm, length/width ratio 1.6–2.2, membranous, base obtuse, symmetric, margin flat, apex acute to nearly obtuse; nerves 6 or 7 until apex, slightly glaucous beneath with distinct veinlets. Staminate flowers 1.3–1.8 mm in diam.; pedicel 2.5–4 mm long; calyx greenish, 1.5–2 by 1.3–1.8 mm, relatively thin; androphore 1–1.1 mm high, anthers 0.8–0.9 mm long. Pistillate flowers: pedicel 2.5–4 mm long; calyx 1.3–2.8 mm long, chartaceous to coriaceous, greenish to red, lobes 0.4–2.2 mm wide; ovary cylindrical, 1.8–2.2 by 0.8–1.3 mm; stigmas ca 0.2 mm long, not united, simple, pointing towards each other. Fruits solitary; pedicel 2.5–4 mm long; calyx chartaceous, 2–3(–4) mm in diam., with lobes 0.5–1 mm long, glaucous or not; capsule 3.5–5 by 4.5–6 mm, turning pink to red and finally black-purple, drying shiny brown, without an apical crown but sometimes with a short beak. Seeds 3–4.5 by 1.8–2.5 by 1.7–2.5 mm, yellow-brown.

Thailand : NORTHERN: Chiang Mai, Lamphun; EASTERN: Nakhon Ratchasima, Ubon Ratchathani; CENTRAL: Saraburi, Nakhon Nayok, Krung Thep Maha Nakhon (Bangkok); SOUTH-EASTERN: Prachin Buri, Chon Buri, Chanthaburi, Trat; PENINSULAR: Chumphon, Ranong, Surat Thani, Phangnga, Krabi, Nakhon Si Thammarat, Phatthalung, Trang, Satun, Songkhla.

Distribution : India (type), Sri Lanka, Burma, Indochina, Peninsular Malaysia.

Ecology : Dry evergreen forests, savannas, Melaleuca swamp forests, bamboo thickets, clearings, waste ground, along roads, rivers, beaches, railway embankments, forests edges; usually scattered; on sandy podsol, termite mounds; sea level up to 800 m alt.

Vernacular : Dap phit (ดับพิษ), phia fan (เพี้ยฟาน)(Northern); kang pla thale (ก้างปลาทะเล)(Narathiwat); phak wan tua phu (ผักหวานตัวผู้)(Central).

Uses: Leaves are used fresh or mashed topically against ‘Fii’ in the North. The roots are used as a fish poison.