Volume 7 > Part 3 > Year 2001 > Page 623 > Sterculiaceae > Scaphium

2. Scaphium scaphigerum (G.Don) Guib. & Planch.wfo-0000734154

Hist. Nat. Dro. Sim., 7 ed., 3: 632. 1876; Kosterm., J. Sci. Res. Indo. 2(1): 3. 1953.— Sterculia scaphigera Wall., Cat. no. 1130: 1828 (nom. nud.) ex G.Don, Gen. Syst. 1: 517. 1831. Fig. 103.

Accepted Name : This is currently accepted.

Description : Tree, up to 35 m high, 250 cm girth; always straight bole; buttresses up to 7 m; bark grey, dippled and scaly, inner bark whitish; twigs stout, glabrescent, with prominently raised, large leaf scars. Stipules subulate, caducous. Leaves ovate to ovate-oblong, young leaves on saplings sometimes tri-lobed, 15–24 x 5–11 cm, apex acute to acuminate, base obtuse to truncate, subcoriaceous, glabrescent; 3-nerved at base, scalariform veins prominent on lower surface. Petiole 5–12 cm long, usually swollen at both ends. Inflorescences axillary and terminal, rather dense, up to 20 cm long, erect. Buds ovate, 5 x 4–7 mm, pubescent. Sepals 5, slightly united at base, 5–8 x 3–4 mm, pubescent. Stamens 10–15; anthers 2-celled; staminodes 8–10. Ovary with 5 free carpels in female flowers, glabrous, at the end of the androgynophore. Fruit a large follicle, 14–22 x 3–5 cm, soon dehiscing, boat-shaped and membraneous. Seed pubescent, wingless.

Thailand : SOUTH-EASTERN: Chanthaburi, Trat; PENINSULAR: Ranong, Phuket, Nakhon Si Thammarat, Trang, Satun, Yala.

Distribution : Burma (type), Cambodia, Malay Peninsula.

Ecology : In evergreen forests, near limestone, 50–400 m alt. Flowering: December–February; fruiting: February–May.

Vernacular : Phung thalai (พุงทะลาย)(Central); samrong (สำรอง)(South eastern); priang (เปรียง), prong (โปรง), thai phao (ท้ายเภา)(Peninsular).

Uses: Wood for plywood. Seed yields copious mucilage used as food and medicine.