642

16: Stimulants

Microcos paniculata L.

TILIACEAE

Grewia glabra Jack, Grewia microcos L., Grewia ulmifolia Roxb.

Thailand: kaphla (peninsular), khom (northern), lai (central). Vietnam: bung lai, m[es].

From Sri Lanka and India to Indo-China, southern China and Thailand. Reports from Peninsular Malaysia and Indonesia (Java and the Lesser Sunda Islands) are questionable, because of the complicated taxonomy.

The leaves are considered eminently suitable for wrapping cigars, e.g. in the Andaman Islands. The light to medium-weight hardwood is used for cabinet work. Rope can be manufactured from the fibrous bark. The fruits are edible. In India Microcos paniculata is reputed to cure indigestion, eczema, itches, typhoid fever, dysentery and syphilitic ulceration of the mouth. In southern China an infusion of the leaves is taken for indigestion and as a cooling drink. In Indo-China a drink prepared from the roasted and boiled leaves is given to children as a vermifuge. Loppings can be used as green manure.

A small to medium-sized, deciduous shrub or tree up to 20 m tall; bole up to 50 cm in diameter; bark dark brown to blackish. Indumentum of stellate and simple hairs. Leaves distichous; petiole 0.5—1 cm long; blade elliptical to oblong, 8—17 cm x 4—8 cm, margin undulate to entire, apex acute, glabrous, tertiary venation scalariform and distinct below. Flowers in terminal and axillary cymes arranged paniculately, 5-merous, pale yellow; sepals free, obovate, about 4 mm long; petals free, glabrous, about half the size of the sepals; stamens many, with dorsifixed anthers; ovary superior, 2—4-locular, glabrous, style subulate. Fruit a globose to obovate drupe, about 1.5 cm x 1 cm, purplish, glabrous, with leathery pericarp. Microcos paniculata is found in mixed deciduous and dry evergreen forest, often along streams, up to 1000 m altitude. In Thailand it flowers and fruits in April—June. Some authors consider Microcos tomentosa Smith (synonym: Grewia paniculata Roxb. ex DC.) as a synonym of Microcos paniculata, which sometimes causes confusion in literature.

[15] Burkill, I.H., 1966. A dictionary of the economic products of the Malay Peninsula. Slightly revised reprint of the 1935 edition. 2 volumes. Ministry of Agriculture and Co-operatives, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Vol. 1 (A—H) pp. 1—1240, Vol. 2 (I—Z) pp. 1241—2444.
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[61] Sosef, M.S.M., Hong, L.T. & Prawirohatmodjo, S., 1998. Plant resources of South-East Asia No 5(3). Timber trees: Lesser-known timbers. Backhuys Publishers, Leiden, the Netherlands. 859 pp.
[66] The wealth of India (various editors), 1948—1976. A dictionary of Indian raw materials and industrial products: raw materials. 11 volumes. Publications and Information Directorate, Council of Scientific and Industrial Research, New Delhi, India. 4441 pp.

M.S.M. Sosef

Sosef, M.S.M., 2000. Microcos paniculata L.. In: van der Vossen, H.A.M. and Wessel, M. (Editors): Plant Resources of South-East Asia No 16: Stimulants. PROSEA Foundation, Bogor, Indonesia. Database record: prota4u.org/prosea