Dillenia pentagyna

A small tree with tortuous twigs, Dillenia pentagyna is a member of the family Dilleniaceae, and is found from Sulawesi to South-Central China to India and Sri Lanka. Material from the tree has some minor uses.

Dillenia pentagyna
Dillenia pentagyna leaves
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Order: Dilleniales
Family: Dilleniaceae
Genus: Dillenia
Species:
D. pentagyna
Binomial name
Dillenia pentagyna
Roxb., Pl. Coromandel 1(1): 21, t. 20 (1795)[1]
Synonyms

Description

A tree some 6-15m tall, with tortuous twigs, the bark is grayish and smooth, exfoliating. Branches are glabrous and stout. Leaves are deciduous, petiolate, oblong to obovate-oblong, glabrous, 30–5 cm long, flowers appear before the leaves, 2–7 in number, yellow coloured petals, flowering starts in April–May. Fruit is globose, 0.5 cm in diameter, black ovoid seed, exarillate.[3][4][5] On islands of the Mekong in northeastern Cambodia, the tree flowers from February to March, fruits from March to April, and the leaves grow from May to November.[6]

Vernacular names

Common names by which the tree is known include: buku Tetun, Timor;[7] janti, sempu Jawa;[4] l've/lve,[3][8] chhë muëy rô:y,[3] pheng,[4] rovey,[9] muoy roy sratoap[8] Khmer; 小花五桠果[10];, xiao hua wu ya guo[4] Chinese; ส้านช้าง Thai;[10] korkotta Bengali;[4] akshi Assam; aggai, kallai Hindi; aksikiphal, punnaga Sanskrit; agaai, taatarii,[4] tatri chinnakalinga[5] Nepali; karmal Gujarati and Marathi;[4][5] rai Oriya; kanigala, kadu-kanigala Kannada; പട്ടിപ്പുന്ന],[10] punna, kodapunna[5] Malayalam; ravudana Telugu;[5] பஞ்சகன்னி உவா,[10] naytekku,[4] kanigala[5]Tamil; dog teak English;[10] dillenia; Nepali elephant apple

Distribution

The tree grows in the following places: Lesser Sunda Islands including Timor, Sulawesi, Jawa, Peninsular Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos, Hainan, South-Central China including Yunnan, Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Myanmar, Bangladesh, Assam, East Himalaya, Bhutan, Nepal, India (from Punjab and Gujarat to Assam, Mizoram, Maharashtra, West Bengal and South India), and Sri Lanka.[2][4]

Habitat

Dillenia pentagyna is found in rainforests, thickets and on hills below 400m.[4] In Cambodia it grows in groups in open/clear forests.[3] In the Pinus merkusii-dominated forests of Kirirom National Park, southwestern Cambodia (which occur from 400-1000m elevation), the tree occurs in the 2-8m high understorey under the 20m high pine canopy.[11] D. pentagyna grows on islands in the Mekong in Steung Treng and Kratie provinces, northeastern Cambodia.[6] It is found in the Deciduous, dipterocarp, seasonal, hardwood forest, dominated by Dipterocarpaceae species, occurring above metamorphic sandstone bedrock, at 25-30m elevation. In Phnom Kulen National Park, Siem Reap Province, northwestern Cambodia, the tree is a common canopy species in the Deciduous Dipterocarp Forest.[8]

Uses

The tree is used as a source of fruit, traditional medicine, timber and charcoal.

Amongst the Tetun speaking practitioners of the ai tahan traditional medicine, in Belu Regency, Timor Barat, Indonesia, the bark is used to treat headaches and migraines.[7]

In Cambodia, the fruit is eaten, but is not generally appreciated, it also provides a component for a remedy against cough.[3] The timber is used to make humidity resistant boards and beams. Small knick-knacks are made from the wood, which makes excellent charcoal as well.

The Bunong people of Mondulkiri Province, northeastern Cambodia, drink a decoction of the bark and wood of both this tree and Oroxylum indicum to treat cold and fever.[12]

Amongst Kuy- and Khmer-speaking people living in the same villages in Stung Treng and Preah Vihear provinces of north-central Cambodia, the tree is used as source of medicine, fuel and food.[9]

In various areas of India, parts of the plant are used in ethnomedicine.[4] The Koch-Rajbanshi people of western Assam use the seed and bark against cancer. In the Konkan region of Maharashtra, village people use a paste of water and bark to treat wounds. In Deogarh district, Tribal people use a decoction of the fruit and Zingiber montanum for blood dysentery. To treat diabetes, ripe fruit is taken regularly. The unripe fruit is consumed as a vegetable.

References
  1. "Dillenia pentagyna Roxb., Pl. Coromandel 1(1): 21, t. 20 (1795)". International Plant Name Index (IPNI). Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Retrieved 21 April 2020.
  2. "Dillenia pentagyna Roxb". Plants of the World Online (POWO). Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Retrieved 21 April 2020.
  3. Pauline Dy Phon (2000). Plants Utilised In Cambodia/Plantes utilisées au Cambodge. Phnom Penh: Imprimerie Olympic. p. 121.
  4. Yadav, Ranjeet Kumar; Srivastava, Shailendra Kumar; Mishra, Sarvesh Kumar (2015). "Review on ethnopharmacognosy of Dillenia pentagyna, a medicinally important plant". International Journal of Latest Research in Science and Technology. mnkjournals.com. 4 (1): 123–7. ISSN 2278-5299. Retrieved 22 April 2020.
  5. Deshmukh, N.A.; Okram, Suprya; Angami, Theja; Rymbai, H.; Jha, A.K. "Elephant Apple (Dillenia indica)". Minor Fruits: Nutraceutical Importance and Cultivation, Chapter 18. pp. 410–20. Retrieved 22 April 2020.
  6. Maxwell, James F. (2009). "Vegetation and vascular flora of the Mekong River, Kratie and Steung Treng Provinces, Cambodia" (PDF). Maejo International Journal of Science and Technology. 3 (1): 143–211. ISSN 1905-7873. Retrieved 22 April 2020.
  7. Taek, Maximus M.; Mali, Simon (2017). "Plants in Ai Tahan, Traditional Medicine of the Tetun Ethnic Community in West Timor Indonesia" (PDF). BaSIC 2017, the 7th Basic Science International Conference: 71–7. ISSN 2338-0128. Retrieved 22 April 2020.
  8. Hayes, Benjamin, & others. "A Biodiversity Assessment of Phnom Kulen National Park, with Recommendations for Management. 2013" (PDF). The Rufford Foundation. Integrated Solutions Asia Cooperation. Retrieved 5 April 2020.
  9. Turreira Garcia, Nerea; Argyriou, Dimitrios; Chhang, Phourin; Srisanga, Prachaya; Theilade, Ida (2017). "Ethnobotanical knowledge of the Kuy and Khmer people in Prey Lang, Cambodia" (PDF). Cambodian Journal of Natural History. Centre for Biodiversity Conservation, Phnom Penh (1): 76–101. Retrieved 22 April 2020.
  10. "Dillenia pentagyna (Q10960107)". Wikidata. wikidata.org. Retrieved 21 April 2020.
  11. Rundel, Philip W. (1999). Forest habitats and flora in Laos PDR, Cambodia, and Vietnam. Hanoi: Conservation Priorities In Indochina - WWF Desk Study, World Wide Fund for Nature, Indochina Programme Office. Retrieved 16 April 2020.
  12. Chassagne, François; Hul, Sovanmoly; Deharo, Eric; Bourdy, Geneviève (2016). "Natural remedies used by Bunong people in Mondulkiri province (Northeast Cambodia) with special reference to the treatment of 11 most common ailments". Journal of Ethnopharmacology. Elsevier. 191: 41–70. doi:10.1016/j.jep.2016.06.003. PMID 27282662. Retrieved 22 April 2020.
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