e-Flora of Thailand

Volume 8 > Part 2 > Year 2007 > Page 468 > Euphorbiaceae > Paracroton

Paracroton pendulus (Hassk.) Miq.wfo-0000264349

Fl. Ind. Bat. 1, 2: 382. 1859; Müll.Arg. in DC., Prodr. 15, 2: 1113. 1866; Pax in Engl., Pflanzenr. IV. 147. iii: 12. 1911; N.P.Balakr. & Chakrab., Kew Bull. 48: 723. 1994.— Croton pendulus Hassk., Pl. Jav. Rar.: 266. 1848.— Ostodes pendula (Hassk.) A. Meeuse, Bekn. Fl. Java 4c, fam. 112: 109. 1943; Blumea 5: 508. 1945; Backer & Bakh.f., Fl. Java 1: 493. 1963.— Fahrenheitia pendula (Hassk.) Airy Shaw, Kew Bull. 20: 410. 1967; Kew Bull. 26: 270. 1972; Whitmore, Tree Fl. Malaya 2: 97. 1973. Fig. 52; Plate XXIV: 1.


Accepted Name : This is currently accepted.



Synonyms & Citations :

Fahrenheitia collina Rchb.f. & Zoll., Linnaea 28: 600. 1856; Müll.Arg. in DC., Prodr. 15, 2: 1256. 1866.
Tritaxis macrophylla Müll.Arg., Flora 47: 482. 1864.— Trigonostemon macrophyllus (Müll.Arg.) Müll.Arg., Linnaea 34: 213. 1865; in DC., Prodr. 15, 2: 1106. 1866.— Ostodes macrophylla (Müll.Arg.) Benth. ex Pax & K.Hoffm. in Engl., Pflanzenr. IV. 147.jii: 18. 1911; Ridl., Fl. Malay. Penin. 3: 269. fig. 153. 1924.
Fahrenheitia pendula (Hassk.) Airy Shaw, Kew Bull. 20: 410. 1967; Kew Bull. 26: 270. 1972; Whitmore, Tree Fl. Malaya 2: 97. 1973.


Description : Tree up to 20 m high, dbh 25 cm; bark smooth, greyish-brown; apical branches distinctly pubescent. Indumentum creamish-brown, consisting of stellate-dendritic hairs, ca 0.2 mm in diam. with ca 8–15 radii. Stipules present as a pair of nearly spherical glands, ca 1 mm in diam. Leaves: petiole 3–16 cm long, pubescent; blade obovate-elliptic, 16–46 by 7–17 cm, length/width ratio 2.3–2.7, chartaceous, base obtuse to slightly acute, margin serrate with teeth 5–15 mm apart, apex acuminate, both sides distinctly pubescent on midrib and side veins, sparsely pubescent otherwise, basal glands above spherical, ca 1 mm in diam., sometimes absent, brighter below although not whitish, complete venation distinct, side veins 17–19, arching directly into the marginal teeth (craspedodromous), lowermost pair different and mostly on the basal leaf margin. Inflorescences 20–40 cm long panicles, side branches 1–2 cm long, distant at base and more crowded apically, distinctly pubescent throughout, with yellowish flowers; bracts of side branches ca 3 mm long, linear, often absent, but a pair of nearly spherical glands 1 mm in diam. usually present; side branches with few triangular, eglandular bracts, ca 2 mm long, each subtending several flowers. Staminate flowers densely pubescent outside; pedicels 2–3 mm long; sepals 3–4 by ca 2.5 mm, often with small dorsal appendices; petals ca 5 by 2.5 mm; disc lobed, pubescent with simple hairs. Pistillate flowers: sepals 3–5 by 2.5–3.5 mm, at least in fruit usually with knob like dorsal appendices; petals ca 4 by 2 mm, glabrous. Fruits: pedicels 10–15 mm long; spherical, 20–21 by 21–22 mm, densely pubescent, brownish, hardly sulcate or carinate. Seeds ca 15 by 12 mm, broadly ellipsoid, flattened, brown with brighter and darker patches.


Thailand : PENINSULAR: Surat Thani (Khao Tha Phet, Ko Samui), Nakhon Si Thammarat (Lanmomchui Falls, Thung Song), Phatthalung (Tamot Falls), Satun (Ko Tarutao), Songkhla (Boriphat Falls), Narathiwat (Bala-Hala, Waeng).


Distribution : W Malesia (Malay Peninsula, Singapore, Java (type), Borneo, the Philippines).


Ecology : In shaded primary evergreen and mixed deciduous forests, on granite bedrocks, 25–200 m alt. Flowering: March–June, October, December; fruiting: May, June, August.


Vernacular : Cha san (จาสั้น)(Peninsular).


Uses: Useful timber tree. On Sabah (Borneo) used medicinally. The red sap is irritating and painful.


Notes: The species is not yet recorded for Burma. Desmostemon zeylanicus Thwaites, reduced to a subspecies of Paracroton pendulus by Balakrishnan & Chakrabarthy (l.c.), occurs in Sri Lanka and India.


Main

Figure 52
Plate XXIV: 1
Paracroton pendulus (Hassk.) Miq.