Volume 8 > Part 2 > Year 2007 > Page 395 > Euphorbiaceae > Mallotus

7. Mallotus floribundus (Blume) Mull.Arg.wfo-0000234537

Linnaea 34: 187. 1865; Hook.f., Fl. Brit. Ind. 5: 432. 1887; Airy Shaw, Kew Bull. 26: 306. 1972; Whitmore, Tree Fl. Malaya 2: 113. 1973; Airy Shaw, Kew Bull. Add. Ser. 4: 172. 1975; Welzen, Slik & Bollendorff in Welzen et al., Thai Forest Bull., Bot. 28: 99. 2000; Slik & Welzen, Blumea 46: 33, fig. 13, map 3. 2001.— Adisca floribunda Blume, Bijdr.: 610. 1825.— Rottlera floribunda (Blume) Hassk., Cat. Hort. Bog.: 238. 1844.— Mappa floribunda (Blume) Zoll. & Moritzi, Syst. Verz.: 17. 1855.

Accepted Name : This is currently accepted.

Synonyms & Citations :

Description : Shrub to tree, up to 12 m high, smelling of fenugreek. Indumentum of simple, a few stellate, and many glandular scales. Stipules ovate, 2.5–3.5 by ca 1.2 mm. Leaves alternate to subopposite; petiole 3.3–11.7 cm long; blade ovate, 7–19 by 5–14.5 cm, length/width ratio 1.3–1.4, drying brownish, base rounded, peltate by 1–2 cm, margin subentire with a few glandular teeth and often shallow undulations, apex acuminate, usually mucronulate, upper surface glabrous, with (0–)2–4 small extrafloral nectaries in a row in peltate part, round, 0.3–0.5 mm in diam., lower surface with few hairs, many glandular scales, pockets with hair tufts in especially basal nerve axils, glaucous, venation palmate. Inflorescences terminal to axillary, single or 2 together, unbranched; bracts broadly ovate, 3–3.2 by 2.5–3.5 mm; flowers scented; bracts (broadly) ovate, 0.6–2.6 by 0.5–2.8 mm. Staminate inflorescences up to 20 cm long; flowers in groups of up to 6 per node. Staminate flowers ca 3.5 mm in diam., white; pedicel ca 2.3 mm long; sepals 3, ovate, ca 3.2 by 2 mm; stamens ca 70, filaments ca 2.3 mm long, anthers ca 0.3 mm long. Pistillate inflorescences up to 14 cm long. Pistillate flowers greenish to yellow; pedicel 0–2.5 mm long in fruit; sepals 3, ovate, 3.3–4 by 1.8–2.2 mm; ovary 3-locular, ca 1.4 by 1.4 mm (without spines), spines up to 2 mm long; style 1.5–2.5 mm long; stigmas 7–8 mm long. Fruits lobed capsules, ca 15 by 9 mm, green to yellow-green, with red glandular scales, armed with caducous round, slender, hairy spines, up to 3 mm long; column ca 6 mm long. Seeds subglobase, 5–7 by 5–7 by 4–6 mm.

Thailand : SOUTH-WESTERN: Prachuap Khiri Khan (Huai Thap Sakae); PENINSULAR: Ranong (Kraburi), Surat Thani (Khao Tum, Khlong Saeng, Wang Sai), Phangnga (Bangto), Krabi (Nai Sa), Nakhon Si Thammarat (Chong, Krung Ching Falls, Ron Phi Bun), Trang (Khao Chang), Pattani (To Mo), Narathiwat (Waeng).

Distribution : Burma, Laos, Vietnam, throughout Malesia (Java – type) up to the Solomon Islands.

Ecology : By streams in evergreen forests, limestone bedrock, 40–300 m alt.

Vernacular : Lo (ล้อ), pik (ปิก), prik (ปริก)(Nakhon Si Thammarat, Prachuap Khiri Khan); lo khon (ลอขน)(Trang); ka-bing-ba-tu (กบิงบาตู)(Malay-Narathiwat).

CommonName : Blue blade.

Uses: Ornamental in Burma. The aromatic staminate flowers are used for scenting medicinal powders and for toilet powder on Java. A decoction of the root is administered in the Malay Peninsula after childbirth, for stomach ache and cholera. In Sumatra the tough wood is used to make small objects.