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12(2): Medicinal and poisonous plants 2

Alstonia spectabilis R.Br.

This article should be read together with the article on the genus: Alstonia in the Handbook volume indicated above in this database.

On Asclepiad.: 65 (1810).

Alstonia villosa Bl. (1826), Alstonia linearis Benth. (1869), Alstonia longissima F. Muell. (1877).

Hard milkwood (En). Indonesia: legarang (Javanese), langkerang (Madurese), pole (Timor). Philippines: kuyau-kuyau. Papua New Guinea: tutu (Boku, Central Province), mirun (Kieta, North Solomons Province).

Indonesia (except Sumatra and Kalimantan), the Philippines, New Guinea, northern Australia and the Solomon Islands.

In Central Province (Papua New Guinea), a decoction of the leaves and bark is used to treat a bad cough and sore throat. Leaves may also be chewed with betel nut (Areca catechu L.) and lime to ease the pain of constant coughing. On Yule Island, Central Province (Papua New Guinea), a decoction of the leaves is drunk to treat malarial fever. The same decoction taken daily is used to relieve asthma. The diluted stem sap is applied on tropical ulcers. In the Solomon Islands a decoction of the plant is the basis of a mixture used as an abortifacient. The wood is used as hard alstonia.

A medium-sized to large tree up to 40 m tall, bole up to 90 cm in diameter, sometimes with small buttresses, outer bark brownish or dark brown, smooth scaly or longitudinally fissured, inner bark yellowish or straw-coloured, without latex; leaves in whorls of 3—4, linear to obovate, 3—32 cm x 1—12 cm, apex acute, obtuse or shortly abruptly acuminate with 10—30(—40) pairs of secondary veins, petiole (0—)5—27 mm; inflorescence usually in groups of 2—8, many-flowered, pedicel 1—3 mm long, calyx subequal, pubescent outside, corolla pubescent outside; follicles glabrous. Alstonia spectabilis occurs on various soils in primary and secondary forest, up to 800 m altitude.

[423] Holdsworth, D.K., 1991. Medicinal plants of the Central Province of Papua New Guinea. Part V. Coastal villages to the West and East of Port Moresby. International Journal of Pharmacognosy 29(3): 231—236.
[431] Holdsworth, D.K. & Lacanienta, E., 1981. Traditional medicinal plants of the Central Province of Papua New Guinea. Part I. Quarterly Journal of Crude Drug Research 19(4): 144—154.
[786] Perry, L.M., 1980. Medicinal plants of East and Southeast Asia. Attributed properties and uses. MIT Press, Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States & London, United Kingdom. 620 pp.
[950] Soerianegara, I. & Lemmens, R.H.M.J. (Editors), 1993. Plant Resources of South-East Asia No 5(1). Timber trees: Major commercial timbers. Pudoc Scientific Publishers, Wageningen, the Netherlands. 610 pp.

Stephen P. Teo

Teo, S.P., 2001. Alstonia spectabilis R.Br.. In: van Valkenburg, J.L.C.H. and Bunyapraphatsara, N. (Editors): Plant Resources of South-East Asia No 12(2): Medicinal and poisonous plants 2. PROSEA Foundation, Bogor, Indonesia. Database record: prota4u.org/prosea