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19: Essential-oil plants

Pittosporum pentandrum (Blanco) Merrill

PITTOSPORACEAE

Aquilaria pentandra Blanco, Pittosporum brachysepalum Turcz.

Philippines: mamalis (Tagalog), antoan (Bisaya), basuit (Iloko).

Taiwan, throughout the Philippines, northern Sulawesi.

After steam distillation the fruits yield a pleasantly smelling oil, called mamalis oil. A decoction of the leaves is aromatic like the fruit oil and is used in baths by women after childbirth. The bark is used as a febrifuge and in large amounts as a general antidote; it is also effective in bronchitis.

Tree, 3—17 m tall, 10—30 cm in trunk diameter. Leaves arranged spirally or in a pseudo-whorl; petiole up to 1.5 cm long; blade narrowly elliptical to oblanceolate, 4—12 cm x 1—3 cm. Inflorescence terminal or axillary, many-flowered, thyrsoid, about 3—4 cm in diameter with pubescent branches; flowers functionally unisexual; sepals 5, free, ovate, about 2 mm x 1 mm; petals 5, oblong-linear, up to 8 mm x 1 mm, white; stamens 5, best developed in male flowers, pistil best developed in female flowers. Fruit a compressed globose capsule, about 7 mm in diameter, slightly apiculate, 2-valved. Seeds 6— 8, subreniform, about 3 mm x 2 mm. Pittosporum pentandrum is characteristic in secondary forest from which the valuable timber trees have been removed, but also in rain forest, up to 2300 m altitude. Propagation is easy by seed and by cuttings. In Florida its planting is discouraged as it is invasive of pine forests. Pittosporum dallii Cheesem., native to New Zealand, is cultivated in Europe. Its essential oil adds a special feature to the floral bouquet of a few luxury perfumes.

[4] Brown, W.H., 1941–1943. Useful plants of the Philippines. 3 volumes. Department of Agriculture and Natural Resources. Technical Bulletin 10. Bureau of Printing, Manila, the Philippines. 1610 pp. (reprint, 1951–1957).
[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.).
[11] Groom, N., 1997. The new perfume handbook. 2nd edition. Blackie Academic & Professional, London, United Kingdom. 435 pp.
[19] Li, Hui-Lin et al. (Editors), 1975–1979. Flora of Taiwan. 6 volumes. Epoch Publishing Company, Taipei, Taiwan. Second Edition (1993–.) edited and published by the Editorial Committee of the Flora of Taiwan, Taipei, Taiwan (editor-in-chief: Huang Tseng-Chieng).
[42] van Steenis, C.G.G.J. et al. (Editors), 1950– . Flora Malesiana. Series 1. Vol. 1, 4– . Kluwer Academic Publishers, Dordrecht, the Netherlands.

P.C.M. Jansen

Jansen, P.C.M., 1999. Pittosporum pentandrum (Blanco) Merrill. 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