Calophyllum inophyllum
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Calophyllum inophyllum flower | |
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C. inophyllum
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Calophyllum inophyllum |
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Calophyllum inophyllum is a large evergreen, commonly called Alexandrian laurel[1][2] balltree,[1] beach calophyllum,[1] beach touriga,[1] beautyleaf,[1] Borneo-mahogany,[1] Indian doomba oiltree,[1] Indian-laurel,[1] laurelwood,[1] red poon,[3] satin touriga,[1] and tacamahac-tree.[1] It is native from East Africa, southern coastal India to Malesia and Australia.
Contents
Vernacular names
Because it is not native to Europe, and has traditional uses in many other countries, Calophyllum inophyllum is commonly known in English by some of its many foreign names, which include:
- beauty leaf in Australia
- bitangor or penaga (in Malaysia)
- bitangor or nyamplung (in Indonesia)
- bitaog or palo maria (in the Philippines)
- btaches (in Palau), biyuch (in Yap), rekich (in Chuuk)
- canoe tree in Andaman Islands
- daok or daog (in Guam)
- dilo or dimanu (in Fiji)
- domba (දොඹ) (in Sri Lanka)
- fetau (in Samoa), or fetaʻu (in Tonga)
- foraha or vintanina (in Madagascar)
- funa (in the Maldives)[4]
- galaba or galba in West Indies
- gwarogwaro, guoria, oleole, or ba'ula in the Solomon Islands
- island cedar, kalofilium, or bush calophyllum in Papua New Guinea
- kamani or kamanu (in Hawaii; not to be confused with false kamani)
- mtondoo (in Tanzania))
- mù u or cong (in Vietnam)
- nabangura (in Vanuatu)
- ph’ông, ponnyet (in Burma)
- pinnai, pinnay, punnai, punna, punnaga, or punnang (in India)
- poon (in English, from India, see punna above)
- poon in Myanmar
- sura honne (in India) - shortened (confusingly) to honne when using the plant for biodiesel
- takamaka (in France, Seychelles, and Mascarene Islands), takamaka bord de mer (in Réunion), tacamahac - originally a Mexican word, ambiguously used to refer to this and other medicinal trees
- tamanu (tāmanu) (in Tahiti and Cook Islands)
- undi (in India)
Description
C. inophyllum is a low-branching and slow-growing tree with a broad and irregular crown. It usually reaches 8 to 20 m (26 to 66 ft) in height. The flower is 25 mm (0.98 in) wide and occurs in racemose or paniculate inflorescences consisting of four to 15 flowers. Flowering can occur year-round, but usually two distinct flowering periods are observed, in late spring and in late autumn. The fruit (the ballnut) is a round, green drupe reaching 2 to 4 cm (0.79 to 1.57 in) in diameter and having a single large seed. When ripe, the fruit is wrinkled and its color varies from yellow to brownish-red.
Distribution and habitat
C. inophyllum is native to Africa in: Comoros; Kenya; Madagascar; Mauritius; Mozambique; Seychelles; Tanzania (including Pemba Island of the Zanzibar Archipelago); south, southeast and east Asia in: Burma; Cambodia; China (on Hainan); southern India; Andaman and Nicobar Islands Indonesia; Japan (Ryukyu Islands); Malaysia; Papua New Guinea; the Philippines; Sri Lanka; Taiwan; Thailand; Vietnam; the northwestern, southwestern and south central Pacific Region in: the Cook Islands; Fiji; French Polynesia (Marquesas and Society Islands); Guam; the Marshall Islands; Micronesia; the Northern Mariana Islands; Palau; and Samoa; and in Australia in: Northern Territory and Queensland.[1]
Now, it is widely cultivated in all tropical regions of the world.[1] Because of its decorative leaves, fragrant flowers, and spreading crown, it is best known as an ornamental plant.[1]
This tree often grows in coastal regions, as well as nearby lowland forests. However, it has also been cultivated successfully in inland areas at moderate altitudes. It tolerates varied kinds of soil, coastal sand, clay, or even degraded soil.[citation needed]
Uses
Besides being a popular ornamental plant, its wood is hard and strong and has been used in construction or boatbuilding. Traditional Pacific Islanders used Calophyllum wood to construct the keel of their canoes while the boat sides were made from breadfruit (Artocarpus altilis) wood. It is sometimes used for backs and sides of entry-level acoustic guitars.
The seeds yield a thick, dark green tamanu oil for medicinal use[medical citation needed] or hair grease. The nuts are dried before cracking, after which the oil-laden kernel is removed and further dried. The first neoflavone isolated in 1951 from natural sources was calophyllolide from C. inophyllum seeds.[5]
The Mavilan, a Tulu-speaking tribe in north Kerala in India, use the bark to make a powder that they mix with water and apply it to plants affected by a type of plant disease caused by water that they call neeru vembu.[6]
The sap of the tree is poisonous and is used to make poison arrows in Samoa.[citation needed] The mature fruit is poisonous enough to use as rat bait.
The fatty acid methyl esters derived from C. inophyllum seed oil meets the major biodiesel requirements in the United States (ASTM D 6751), and European Union (EN 14214). The average oil yield is 11.7 kg-oil/tree or 4680 kg-oil/hectare. In the northwest coastal areas of Luzon island in Philippines, the oil was used for night lamps. This widespread use started to decline when kerosene became available, and later on electricity. It was also used as fuel to generate electricity to provide power for radios during World War II.
The tree is regarded as sacred in some Pacific islands because of its excellent growth in sandy soil as shade tree and many uses.
References
- ↑ 1.00 1.01 1.02 1.03 1.04 1.05 1.06 1.07 1.08 1.09 1.10 1.11 1.12 1.13 1.14 Calophyllum inophyllum was first described and published in Species Plantarum 1:513. 1753. Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Neoflavones. 1. Natural Distribution and Spectral and Biological Properties. M. M. Garazd, Ya. L. Garazd and V. P. Khilya, Chemistry of Natural Compounds, Volume 39, Number 1 / janvier 2003.
- ↑ Suresh, K. P. (2010). Indigenous Agricultural Practices among Mavilan Tribe in North Kerala.
Further reading
- Stevens (1998). Calophyllum inophyllum. 2006. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. IUCN 2006. www.iucnredlist.org. Retrieved on 12 May 2006.
- Prospects and potential of fatty acid methyl esters of some non-traditional seed oils for use as biodiesel in India
External links
- Media related to Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found. at Wikimedia Commons
- Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- IUCN Red List least concern species
- Articles with unsourced statements from April 2012
- Articles with unsourced statements from September 2015
- Calophyllum
- Trees of Indo-China
- Trees of Malesia
- Trees of the Pacific
- Trees of the Indian Subcontinent
- Flora of Indomalesia
- Trees of Australia
- Trees of China
- Flora of Christmas Island
- Flora of the Comoros
- Flora of the Coral Sea Islands Territory
- Trees of India
- Trees of Japan
- Flora of Kenya
- Flora of Madagascar
- Flora of the Maldives
- Flora of the Marshall Islands
- Flora of Mauritius
- Flora of Mozambique
- Flora of the Northern Territory
- Flora of Queensland
- Flora of the Ryukyu Islands
- Trees of Seychelles
- Trees of Sri Lanka
- Trees of Taiwan
- Flora of Tanzania
- Flora of the Tubuai Islands
- Flora of the Zanzibar Archipelago
- Malpighiales of Australia
- Plants described in 1753
- Least concern flora of Australia
- Least concern biota of Queensland