Volume 8 > Part 1 > Year 2005 > Page 65 > Euphorbiaceae > Antidesma

4. Antidesma ghaesembilla Gaertn.wfo-0000236259

Fruct. 1: 189.t. 39. 1788; Wight, Icon. 3(1): t. 820. 1844–45; Gagnep. & Beille in Lecomte, Fl. Indo-Chine 5: 505, fig. 64. 11–19, 1926; P.Hoffm., Thai Forest Bull., Bot. 28: 147. 2000.

Accepted Name : This is currently accepted.

Synonyms & Citations :

Description : Shrub, treelet or tree, up to 20 m, dbh up to 32 cm; twigs greenish, brown, grey, young twigs sometimes pinkish, pubescent, brown. Stipules early caducous, subulate, 3–6 by 0.5–1 mm, pubescent. Leaves: petiole 4–10(–17) by 0.7–1 mm, pubescent, glabrescent; blade oblong, rarely slightly ovate or obovate, (2–)4–7(–16) by (2–)3–4.5(–9) cm, (1–)1.3–1.7(–2.25) times longer than wide, chartaceous to coriaceous, base rounded to cordate, very rarely acute, apex rounded (to obtuse, very shortly acuminate, truncate or retuse), pubescent to glabrous, often only the major veins of both sides and the margin pubescent, midrib flat adaxially, tertiary veins reticulate to weakly percurrent, drying olive-green. Staminate inflorescences 4–8 cm long, axillary, much-branched, consisting of 10–20 racemes, axis ferrugineous-pubescent; bracts lanceolate, 0.5–1 by 0.5 mm, pubescent. Staminate flowers 2–3 by 2–3 mm, sessile; calyx 0.5 1 by 1.5 mm; sepals 4–6, free, deltoid to oblong, apically acute to obtuse, pubescent outside, 5 glabrous inside; disc consisting of 4–6 free lobes, lobes ± obconical, well-separated from each other, 0.5 by 0.5 mm, pubescent; stamens 4–6,2 mm long, 1–1.5 mm long exserted from the calyx, anthers 0.5 by 0.5 mm, pistillode obconical, 0.5 by 0.2–0.3, pubescent. Pistillate inflorescences 2–3 cm long, axillary, usually much-branched, consisting of (1–)10–20 racemes, axis ferrugineous-pubescent; bracts lanceolate, 0.8 by 0.4 mm, pubescent. Pistillate flowers 1.5–2 by 1–1.5 mm; pedicel 0–1 mm long; calyx 0.7 by 1–1.5 mm; sepals 5 or 6, free, deltoid, apically acute, pubescent outside, glabrous inside; disc shorter than the sepals, glabrous to pubescent especially at the margin; ovary ovoid to globose, pubescent; style usually subterminal, glabrous; stigmas (2)3(5). Infructescences 4–7 cm long; pedicel 0–1 mm long; fruits lens-shaped, more rarely ellipsoid, laterally compressed, 3–4(–5) by 2.5–3(–3.5) mm, basally symmetrical, with a terminal, more rarely subterminal style, pilose.

Thailand : NORTHERN: Mae Hong Son, Chiang Mai, Chiang Rai, Lamphun, Lampang, Tak, Phitsanulok, Nakhon Sawan; NORTH-EASTERN: Phetchabun, Loei, Khon Kaen; EASTERN: Nakhon Ratchasima, Buri Ram, Si Sa Ket; SOUTH-WESTERN: Kanchanaburi, Ratchaburi, Phetchaburi, Prachuap Khiri Khan; CENTRAL: Ang Thong, Krung Thep Maha Nakhon (Bangkok); SOUTH EASTERN: Chon Buri, Chanthaburi; PENINSULAR: Chumphon, Surat Thani, Phangnga, Nakhon Si Thammarat, Trang, Songkhla, Yala, Narathiwat.

Distribution : India including Nicobar Islands, Sri Lanka, S China, Bangladesh, Burma, Laos, Vietnam, Cambodia, Peninsular Malaysia, Sumatra, Borneo (Kalimantan, Sabah), Java, the Philippines, Sulawesi, Lesser Sunda Islands, Maluku, New Guinea, N Australia. Type without locality.

Ecology : In savannas, grasslands (often regularly burnt, said to be fire resistant, NGF 9809), open forests, dense scrubby forests, vine thickets, fresh-water swamps, edge of mangrove, coastal fringes, secondary vegetation around towns and villages (Malay: ‘belukary’); on roadsides and river banks, on dry to swampy ground: usually in secondary vegetation; on clay, sand, lateritic soil, black peat, limestone, over shale and granite bedrock; 0–1,250 m alt.

Vernacular : Khamao pha (ขะเม่าผา), mamao (มะเม่า)(Northeastern); mao khai pla (เม่าไข่ปลา)(Chon Buri); mang mao (มังเม่า)(Chanthaburi); ma mao khao bao (มะเม่าข้าวเบา)(Chumphon); mao thung (เม่าทุ่ง)(Chumphon, Songkhla); ku-chae (กูแจ)(Malay-Narathiwat).

Uses: Fruits eaten locally.