Enkleia malaccensis (PROSEA)
Introduction |
Enkleia malaccensis Griffith
- Family: Thymelaeaceae
Synonyms
- Enkleia coriacea Hallier f.,
- E. malayana Griffith,
- Linostoma scandens (Endl.) Kurz.
Vernacular names
- Indonesia: tementak akar (Bangka), terap akar (Sumatra), aka dian (Kalimantan)
- Malaysia: kapang akar, akar puchong kapur, akar kareh hitam.
Distribution
Peninsular Malaysia, Singapore, Sumatra and Borneo.
Uses
The wood is aromatic, but considered inferior to agar wood. The bast fibres can be used for tying.
Observations
- Woody climber, up to 30 m long and 30 cm in diameter; branches red-brown, young ones ferrugineous pubescent and sometimes transformed into hook-like organs.
- Leaves subopposite, coriaceous, golden-brown velutinous; petiole 6-12 mm long; blade ovate to elliptical, 3.5-15 cm × 2-10 cm.
- Inflorescence paniculately branched, terminal, 15-30 cm long, each branch with 4-14 flowers arranged like an umbel.
- Calyx tubular, 5-6 mm long, 5-lobed, yellow-green, golden-brown velutinous, persistent in fruit; corolla reduced to 10 petaloid appendages of 1 mm length inside the calyx tube; stamens 10, in 2 whorls, subsessile; pistil with unilocular ovary, filiform style up to 1 mm long and clavate stigma.
- Fruit an ovoid drupe, 10-15 mm × 6-8 mm, prominently ribbed.
E. malaccensis occurs in primary forest below 50 m altitude. Flowering and fruiting occur between April and October; usually only one fruit develops per inflorescence branch. E. malaccensis is closely related to Enkleia siamensis (Kurz) Nevling, occurring in Burma (Myanmar), Thailand and Indo-China and is included in E. malaccensis by some authors. E. siamensis yields a bast fibre used for tying, a decoction of its leaves is used to cure eye diseases and the fruits are used as a purgative.
Selected sources
5, 10, 15, 25, 42.
Authors
P.C.M. Jansen