Volume 8 > Part 2 > Year 2007 > Page 306 > Euphorbiaceae > Galearia

Galearia fulva (Tul.) Miq.wfo-0000967830

Fl. Ind. Bat. 1: 430. 1859; Hook.f., Fl. Brit. Ind. 5: 378. 1885, Forman, Kew Bull. 26: 160. 1971; Airy Shaw, Kew Bull. 26: 362. 1972; Whitmore, Tree Fl. Malaya 2: 97. 1973.— Cremostachys fulva Tul., Ann. Sci. Nat., Bot. Ser. 3, 15: 261. 1851 (for full synonymy see Forman, 1971). Fig. 1; Plate XVII: 1.

Accepted Name : This is currently accepted.

Description : Shrub or small tree, up to 10 m high; twigs densely red brown pubescent. Stipules small. Leaves: petiole stout, 0.4–10 mm long, more or less pubescent; blade oblong to elliptic or slightly obovate, 5–35 by 1.5–10 cm, length/width ratio ca 3.5, base asymmetrically obtuse to cuneate, apex shortly acuminate, both surfaces glabrous or pubescent below, venation distinct on both sides, especially below, but midrib slightly depressed above, nerves in 6–11 pairs, curved strongly upward, looping near margin, veins scalariform-reticulate. Staminate inflorescences pendulous, 15–70 cm long, reddish-brown pubescent. Pistillate inflorescences 10–15 cm long; bracts ca 1 mm long. Flowers greenish to whitish to yellowish. Staminate flowers ca 3 mm in diam.; pedicel 2–4 mm long, pubescent; sepals ovate, tomentose; petals ciliate at the tips; stamens 10; pistillode tomentose. Pistillate flowers ca 1.5 mm in diam.; pedicel 1–1.5 mm long, tomentose; sepals triangular, ca 0.7 mm long, tomentose; petals obovate, ca 1 by 0.7 mm, apex aristate, glabrous; ovary subglobose, ca 1.5 mm in diam., tomentose; stigmas apically split several times. Fruits ellipsoid, flattened, ca 10 by 7 mm, greenish to white with reddish brown tomentose. Seeds flat and ellipsoid.

Thailand : EASTERN: Chanthaburi; PENINSULAR: Chumphon, Ranong, Surat Thani, Phangnga, Krabi, Nakhon Si Thammarat, Phatthalung, Trang, Satun, Songkhla, Pattani, Narathiwat.

Distribution : From Burma to Indochina, Malay Peninsula (type), Sumatra, Borneo and the Philippines.

Ecology : Common by streams or in evergreen forests on hills, up to 900 m alt. Flowering and fruiting throughout the year.

Vernacular : Maeng mao khuai (แมงเม่าควาย)(Chanthaburi); ruang khao (รวงขาว)(Chumphon); taek na (แตกนา)(Surat Thani); ai bao (อ้ายเบ่า)(Nakhon Si Thammarat); miao (เมียว)(Trang); lin khwai (ลิ้นควาย)(Songkhla); lin krabue (ลิ้นกระบือ), mueai (เมื่อย)(Peninsular).

Uses: The fruits are edible and the roots are used locally to treat fever.