Volume 8 > Part 1 > Year 2005 > Page 167 > Euphorbiaceae > Cleidion

2. Cleidion javanicum Blumewfo-0000872362

Bijdr.: 613. 1825. Plate IX: 3. / Appendix Fig. 7.

Accepted Name : This is currently accepted.

Synonyms & Citations :

Description : Shrub to tree up to 20 m high, dbh up to 50 cm. Bark thin, smooth to finely roughened, brown to grey. Stipules triangular, 1.8–2 by 0.8–1.5 mm. Leaves: petiole 2–8 cm long; blade 8.6–27 by 2.4–10 cm, length/width ratio 1.8–4, papery, dark green above, light green underneath, base often slightly oblique, narrowly rounded to cuneate; nerves 8 or 9 per side. Staminate inflorescences up to 23.5 cm long, erect, green. Staminate flowers 6–7 mm in diam., greenish (white) to yellowish; pedicel 1–4 mm long; sepals ovate, 2–3.3 by 1.8–2.8 mm, subglabrous outside; stamens ca 0.3 by 0.3 mm, cream, filaments 0.6–1.2 mm long, pale light green. Pistillate flowers 5–6 mm in diam., green; pedicel 3–9 cm long; sepals 5, ovate, 1.6–1.8 by 1.5–1.6 mm, margin somewhat fimbriate; ovary 2-locular, 5–6 by 3.5–5.2 mm high; style 3.5–15 mm long, greenish; stigmas 2,8–14 mm long, greenish. Fruits 1.8–2 (when 1 lobe developed) to 2.2–2.8 (when 2 lobes developed) by 1.4–1.6 cm, glabrous, yellow to brown. Seeds 12–13 by 10.5–11 mm, endosperm white.

Thailand : NORTHERN: Mae Hong Son, Chiang Mai, Lampang, Lamphun, Phrae, Sukhothai, Tak; NORTH-EASTERN: Loei, Khon Kaen; CENTRAL: Saraburi, Krung Thep Maha Nakhon (Bangkok); SOUTH EASTERN: Sa Kaeo, Chanthaburi, Trat; SOUTH-WESTERN: Kanchanaburi, Phetchaburi, Prachuap Khiri Khan; PENINSULAR: Phatthalung.

Distribution : India (type) and S China throughout SE Asia and Malesia to the Bismarck Archipelago and the Solomon Islands.

Ecology : Scattered to locally common in mixed (dry) evergreen forests, deciduous forests (often disturbed with much bamboo); in rocky areas, slightly disturbed places, old clearings, edges of clearings, along streams, and fire-prone areas; on limestone, shale and quartzite; 30–1,100 m alt.

Vernacular : Cha mafai (จ๊ามะไฟ), ma dimi (มะดีหมี)(Northern); soei-ka-chu (เซยกะชู้)(Karen-Mae Hong Son); dimi (ดีหมี), din mi (ดินหมี)(Lampang); ka dao krachai (กาดาวกระจาย)(Prachuap Khiri Khan); kalai (กาไล), kamlai (กำไล)(Surat Thani); khat lai (คัดไล)(Ranong).

Uses: Sometimes cultivated for the oil in the seeds (Airy Shaw, 1972). Medicinal use: leaves are soaked in water and solution applied against sore eyes. The bark, wood, and roots are also used medicinally.

Notes: The name Cleidion spiciflorum (Burm.f.) Merr. (basionym: Acalypha spiciflora Burm.f.) was generally used for this species, but the type appears to be a Claoxylon species.