Phyllanthus gomphocarpus (PROSEA)

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Plant Resources of South-East Asia Introduction

List of species

Phyllanthus gomphocarpus Hook.f.

Family: Euphorbiaceae

Synonyms

• Phyllanthus accrescens J.J. Smith.

Vernacular names

• Indonesia, Malaysia: chermela hutan
• Thailand: phakwan-changkhlong (Nakhon Si Thammarat).

Distribution

Peninsular Thailand and Malaysia, Sumatra and Java.

Uses

The fruit is edible but acid. Crushed young leaves are used to heal wounds.

Observations

• Erect shrub, up to 3 m tall.
• Leaves ovate-lanceolate, 1-6 cm × 1-2.5 cm.
• Male flowers small, panicled, female flowers large, solitary.
• Fruit a subglobose trilobed capsule, about 1-2 cm diameter, with inflated lobes, light-green.
• Seeds small.

In hilly areas in shady primary forest, up to 800 m altitude.

Selected sources

• Backer, C.A. & Bakhuizen van den Brink, R.C., 1963 1968. Flora of Java. 3 Volumes. Noordhoff, Groningen, the Netherlands.

• Burkill, I.H., 1966. A dictionary of the economic products of the Malay Peninsula. 2nd ed. 2 Volumes. Ministry of Agriculture and Co-operatives, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. 2444 pp.

• Heyne, K., 1927. De nuttige planten van Nederlandsch Indië [The useful plants of the Dutch East Indies]. 2nd ed. 3 Volumes. Departement van Landbouw, Nijverheid en Handel in Nederlandsch Indië. 1953 pp.

• Ridley, H.N., 1922-1925. The Flora of the Malay Peninsula. 5 Volumes. Government of the Straits Settlements and Federated Malay States. L. Reeve & Co., London.

Authors

P.C.M. Jansen, J. Jukema, L.P.A. Oyen, T.G. van Lingen