Record Number
705
PROSEA Handbook Number
19: Essential-oil plants
Taxon
Zanthoxylum ovalifolium Wight
Family
RUTACEAE
Synonyms
Fagara ovalifolia (Wight) Engler, Zanthoxylum inerme White & Francis, Zanthoxylum sepearium Wight.
Distribution
India, Pakistan, Burma (Myanmar), Andaman Islands, Java, Borneo, Lesser Sunda Islands, Papua New Guinea and Australia (Queensland).
Uses
When distilled, the fruits yield an essential oil that contains myrcene and safrole and differs widely from the oil from other Zanthoxylum species.
Observations
Erect shrub or small tree, up to 8 m tall, with unarmed branches. Leaves alternate, trifoliolate, 8—28 cm long, subleathery, with scattered pellucid dots; leaflets ovate to elliptical, 3—19 cm long, margin subentire to crenate. Inflorescence paniculate, axillary or terminal, 3—12 cm long; flowers 2—3 mm long, white, sepals and petals 4; male flower with 4 stamens; female flower 1-carpellate with excentric style and globose stigma. Fruit a subglobose follicle, 6—7 mm in diameter, single. Zanthoxylum ovalifolium occurs in monsoon forest and thickets, up to 2000 m altitude. It is markedly different from other Malesian species and is apparently most closely related to 2 species from south-western China: Zanthoxylum dimorphophyllum Hemsl. and Zanthoxylum robiginosum (Reeder & Cheo) Huang.
Selected Sources
[5] Burkill, I.H., 1935. A dictionary of the economic products of the Malay Peninsula. 2 volumes. Crown Agents for the Colonies, London, United Kingdom. 2402 pp. (slightly revised reprint, 1966. 2 volumes. Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. 2444 pp.).
[13] Hartley, T.G., 1966. A revision of the Malesian species of Zanthoxylum (Rutaceae). Journal of the Arnold Arboretum 47: 171–221.
[14] Hartley, T.G., 1970. Additional notes on the Malesian species of Zanthoxylum (Rutaceae). Journal of the Arnold Arboretum 51: 423–426.
[13] Hartley, T.G., 1966. A revision of the Malesian species of Zanthoxylum (Rutaceae). Journal of the Arnold Arboretum 47: 171–221.
[14] Hartley, T.G., 1970. Additional notes on the Malesian species of Zanthoxylum (Rutaceae). Journal of the Arnold Arboretum 51: 423–426.
Author(s)
P.C.M. Jansen
Correct Citation of this Article
Jansen, P.C.M., 1999. Zanthoxylum ovalifolium Wight. In: L.P.A. Oyen and Nguyen Xuan Dung (Editors): Plant Resources of South-East Asia No 19: Essential-oil plants. PROSEA Foundation, Bogor, Indonesia. Database record: prota4u.org/prosea
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