Fagraea [genus] (1,278)
F. auriculata (751)
F. berteroana (1,093)
Synonyms: Fagraea berterana A. Gray ex Benth.
F. cochinchinensis (1,622)
F. crenulata (840)
F. elliptica (416)
F. fragrans (1,100)
F. gigantea (806)
F. gracilipes (384)
F. maingayi (459)
F. oblonga (324)
F. obovata (337)
F. racemosa (1,042)
F. sororia (288)
F. vaginata (225)
F. zeylanica (258)
GENTIANACEAE Fagraea
Fagraea [genus] Thunb. GENTIANACEAE
SE Asia, Malaysia, trop. Australia, SW Pacific; 35 spp. Lvs. opp., usually large, leathery, entire, stipuled. Fls. showy, sol. or in cymose infl., corolla tubular, 5-lobed. Fruit a berry, seeds many, embedded in pulp. In Loganiaceae (Hortus Third 1976:470) Trees or epiphytic shrubs. Corolla funnelform with 5 overlapping lobes. In Loganiaceae (Griffiths 1994:464) Some spp. have nectaries at the outside of the base of the flower. In Potaliaceae (Willis 1973:453) Cult. for ornament, scented fls. Some are medicinal. Locally used for timber (Mabberley 1998:278) Several spp. give excellent timber; some are shrubs too small to give timber, some are woody climbers. Some have v. large fls. In Loganiaceae (Burkill 1966:Vol. 1 page 1009) Found fls. and large fruits of an interesting tree of this genus. Fls. were trumpet-shaped, pure white and 3” across. The fruits had more seeds in them than even a very seedy tomato, and many of them have grown up here [FL?]. Another sp. bloomed in the Liverpool Botanic Gardens, attracted the praise of Joseph Hooker in 1846 (Fairchild 1943)
GENTIANACEAE Fagraea auriculata
Fagraea auriculata Jack GENTIANACEAE
Burma to Philippines, Indonesia. Epiphytic shrub. Lvs. to 40 cm long, 25 cm wide, obovate to oblong. Fls. to 15 cm, terminal, in threes, yellow (Griffiths 1994:464) Cambodia, S Malaya to the Philippines. Small tree which starts life as an epiphyte, then extends its roots to the ground, kills the host and takes its place. Two vars.; fls. of one sometimes to 12” across. Cult. for their curious fls. Under the thin epidermal layer of the fruit is a v. sticky subst.; in Sumatra considered a v. good glue (Burkill 1966:Vol. 1 page 1010) Valid species (GRIN 2007)
GENTIANACEAE Fagraea berteroana
Fagraea berteroana A. Gray ex Benth. GENTIANACEAE
Synonyms: Fagraea berterana A. Gray ex Benth.
Common names: Pua-kenikeni (Hargreaves)
F. berterana: Pacific Is., Queensland. Tree to 40 ft. or shrubby. Lvs. ovate to 6” long. Fls. fragrant, large, to 3” long, few to many in widely branched infl. The fls. are used in leis and perfumes (Hortus Third 1976:470) Hawaiian name means ‘ten-cent flower’ because they used to be sold for 10 cents apiece. Tahitan legend: Pua is sacred to Tane, God of the Forests; images of him were made of pua wood. Fls. 2”, fragrant, funnel-shaped, leathery. Open at sunset, creamy white, then after 5-6 days turn orange-yellow. Fruits round, 1”, red when ripe (Hargreaves and Hargreaves 1970:53) In Fiji make the fls. into salusalu, necklaces; also to scent coconut oil. Blooms Sept.-Oct. (Parham 1972) Valid species, synonym not in GRIN (GRIN 2007)
GENTIANACEAE Fagraea cochinchinensis
Fagraea cochinchinensis A. Chev. GENTIANACEAE
Common names: Tembusu, Anam (Burkill)
Malaya, E Indies. A handsome conical tree to 100 ft. Lvs. leathery to 6” long. Abundant fragrant, long-lasting fls. [white with v. long stamens] up to 100 in a cluster, twice a year. Small bitter red berries are eagerly sought by flocks of flying foxes [bats]. Tree is prized as an ornamental & for its wood. Grows slowly (Morton 1971:106) Tenasserim, Sumatra, Malaya; cult. for ornament in other parts of the East. A good avenue tree. Grows through lalang [Imperata, Poaceae]; helps suppress it, but grows slowly. In parts of Java & Malaya it pays to grow them for timber, though does not reach felling size for 30 years. Wood hard; Malays in metaphor compare a hard heart to it. Pale yellow with a purplish tint. When first cut it is heavy, v. wet, distinct acid odor. Not hard to season, but liable to split at the ends. Not hard to work. Less durable than F. gigantea. Used for houses, bridges, rafters; in 1883 was used for tapioca barrels. Indian foresters suggest ‘anam’ as a trade name; this is the Tenasserim name, but in Malaya the name has always been tembusu. Decoction of leaf & twigs drunk for dysentery. Decoction of bark for malaria (Burkill 1966:Vol. 1 page 1010) Name not in GRIN (GRIN 2007)
GENTIANACEAE Fagraea crenulata
Common names: Malabera (Burkill)
Sumatra, W side of Malaya, Borneo, in swamps behind the mangrove belt. Mod. sized tree. Fruit small, slightly disagreeable. Timber v. valuable for piling; if the bark is left on, teredo do not attach to it. Former supplies now mostly worked out. Planted successfully at Kuala Lumpur, being tried elsewhere. Timber durable, mod. heavy, hard, coarse-grained, white to dirty yellowish, no distinct sap & heart wood. Hard to season; planks which have been drying for several years are still wet when planed. Said to have been used for poulticing (Burkill 1966:Vol. 1 page 1010) Name not in GRIN (GRIN 2007)
GENTIANACEAE Fagraea elliptica
Fagraea elliptica Roxb. GENTIANACEAE
Common names: Tembusu padang (Burkill)
W Malaysia. Supplies good hard timber (Burkill 1966:Vol. 1 page 1009) Penang. Tall tree. Timber a fine compact wood, v. heavy, darker color than F. cochinchinensis (Burkill 1966:Vol. 1 page 1011) Name not in GRIN (GRIN 2007)
GENTIANACEAE Fagraea fragrans
Fagraea fragrans Roxb. GENTIANACEAE
India, Malaysia. Tree to 75 ft or shrubby. Lvs. elliptic to 6” long. Fls. 1” long, in few- to many-branched infl., stamens & style exserted. A beautiful tree planted for shade in trop. regions (Hortus Third 1976:470) Symmetrical evergreen tree. Fls. tiny, white-yellow, v. fragrant. Berries orange. A common avenue & forest tree in Malaysia, intro. in Ceylon 1891. Flying foxes, large bats, come at night to eat the fruits (Hargreaves and Hargreaves 1972:61) In Singapore flowers gregariously every year in May with great regularity. A second less conspicuous bloom in Oct.-Nov. Holttum 1935 showed that the chief flowering period occurs about 4 months after the break in the rainy season, which is usually Jan. (Richards 1952) Scents the whole city of Singapore twice a year with its flowers. Corner: ‘after its ghostly flowers come flying foxes to gorge upon the fruits at night.’ (Fairchild 1943) Valid species (GRIN 2007)
GENTIANACEAE Fagraea gigantea
Fagraea gigantea Ridl. GENTIANACEAE
Common names: Ironwood, Tembusu bukit (Burkill)
Sumatra, S Malaya, dense forest. Lofty tree. Timber v. highly valued: heavy, v. durable, heavier & more resinous than timber of the true tembusu. Used for house-beams, bridges, planks, etc. A stump of a tree, cut 50 years before Ridley described it in 1902, in the Botanic Gardens, Singapore, still had a considerable amt. of sound wood, in spite of exposure under quite unfavorable circumstances. Timber lasts 50-60 years uninjured in the ground, but is liable to warp (Burkill 1966:Vol. 1 page 1011) Name not in GRIN (GRIN 2007)
GENTIANACEAE Fagraea gracilipes
Fagraea gracilipes . GENTIANACEAE
Range not given. Tree. Fls. pale yellow. Fruit white. V. attractive when in flower. Timber durable, valuable, now in short supply in Fiji. In Macuta & Bua, forbid cutting trees with a girth of less than 3 ft. (Parham 1972) Name not in GRIN (GRIN 2007)
GENTIANACEAE Fagraea maingayi
Fagraea maingayi C.B.Clarke GENTIANACEAE
Common names: Tembusu gajah (Burkill)
Range not given; in Malaya at the S end of the Main Range. Tree of mod. size, but the Malay name means ‘big tembusu’. Timber in Malacca for house-building. Might be used medicinally (Burkill 1966:Vol. 1 page 1012) Name not in GRIN (GRIN 2007)
GENTIANACEAE Fagraea oblonga
Fagraea oblonga King & Gamble GENTIANACEAE
Common names: Ara burong (Burkill)
Range not given. Malay name means ‘bird’s fig’, prob. because it starts life as an epiphyte (Burkill 1966:Vol. 1 page 1009) Name not in GRIN (GRIN 2007)
GENTIANACEAE Fagraea obovata
Fagraea obovata Wall. GENTIANACEAE
NE India to Java. Like A. auriculata, an epiphyte becoming a rooted shrub. Wood is gray, soft. In Java grated lvs. for fever, headache (Burkill 1966:Vol. 1 page 1012) Valid species (GRIN 2007)
GENTIANACEAE Fagraea racemosa
Fagraea racemosa Jack GENTIANACEAE
Common names: Sepuleh (Burkill)
Malaysia. Large bush. Much used in medicine; the Malay name means ‘the restorer’. Root decoction often given as a tonic after fever, for pains in the loins (e); often with lvs. of other trees. Leaf decoction as a medicinal bath for children with fever. Boiled lvs. for dropsy. In Java lvs. used as a fomentation for rheumatism. Hot oiled lvs. on the abdomen for fever. Pounded roots to poultice an ulcerated nose (e) [syphilis?]. A medicinal oil made from the plant. Wood mod. hard, greasy to the touch, scent like india-rubber [Ficus, Moraceae]. Wood-tar to blacken teeth (Burkill 1966:Vol. 1 page 1012) Name not in GRIN (GRIN 2007)
GENTIANACEAE Fagraea sororia
Fagraea sororia J.J.Smith GENTIANACEAE
Sumatra. Wood nearly approaches that of the Malayan tembusu in value. Much planted in Sumatra (Burkill 1966:Vol. 1 page 1009) Name not in GRIN (GRIN 2007)
GENTIANACEAE Fagraea vaginata
Fagraea vaginata King & Gamble GENTIANACEAE
N Malaya. Small tree, starts life as an epiphyte. Wood soft (Burkill 1966:Vol. 1 page 1013) Name not in GRIN (GRIN 2007)
GENTIANACEAE Fagraea zeylanica
Fagraea zeylanica Thunb. GENTIANACEAE
Ceylon. Tree. Said to contain an alkaloid (Burkill 1966:Vol. 1 page 1009) Name not in GRIN, but spell-check gives F. ceilanica Thunb., not verified (GRIN 2007)
Bibliography:
Burkill, I. 1966. A Dictionary of the Economic Products of the Malay Peninsula., 2nd ed. Ministry of Agriculture and Co-Operatives, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
Fairchild, D. 1943. Garden Islands of the Great East: Collecting Seeds from the Philippines and Netherlands India in the Junk ‘Chêng Ho.’. Scribners, New York NY.
Griffiths, M. 1994. Index of Garden Plants. Royal Horticultural Society, London U.K.
GRIN. 2007. USDA, ARS, National Genetic Resources Program, Germplasm Resources Information Network. http://www.ars-grin.gov/cgi-bin/npgs/html/paper.pl (16 December 2007).
Hargreaves, D. and B. Hargreaves. 1970. Tropical Trees of the Pacific. Hargreaves Co., Kailua HI.
Hargreaves, D. and B. Hargreaves. 1972. African Blossoms. Hargreaves Co., Kailua HI.
Hortus Third. 1976. Hortus Third: A Concise Dictionary of Plants Cultivated in the United States and Canada. Macmillan Publishing Co., Inc., New York NY.
Mabberley, D. 1997. The Plant-Book, 2nd edition. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, Gt. Britain.
Morton, J. F. 1971. Exotic Plants For House and Garden. Golden Press, New York NY.
Parham, J. 1972. Plants of the Fiji Islands., 2nd ed. Government Printer, Suva, Fiji.
Richards, P. 1952. The Tropical Rain Forest, an Ecological Study. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, Gt. Britain.
Willis, J. 1973. A Dictionary of the Flowering Plants and Ferns., 8th ed. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, U.K.