| Aglaia argentea | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Herbarium specimen of Aglaia argentea | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| Clade: | Tracheophytes |
| Clade: | Angiosperms |
| Clade: | Eudicots |
| Clade: | Rosids |
| Order: | Sapindales |
| Family: | Meliaceae |
| Genus: | Aglaia |
| Species: | A. argentea |
| Binomial name | |
| Aglaia argentea | |
Aglaia argentea is a species of plant in the family Meliaceae. It is a tree found in Australia, Brunei, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, Papua New Guinea, the Philippines, the Solomon Islands, and Thailand.
Aglaia argentea is an evergreen tree. It has a spiral leaf arrangement and pinnately compound leaves with leaflets that are elliptical or oblong. Once it has reached a height of about 4.5 meters they begin to flower and fruit.[6] It is a dioecious species so there are male and female plants. The flowers on both are similar, having 5 petals each.[5] The male flowers have 5 stamen and the female flowers have superior ovaries. The fruit are small (between 30 and 35 mm in diameter) oval and fleshy, each containing anywhere from one to three seeds. [3] The tree can grow up to 98ft (30m) and the leaves typically range in size from 17 – 112 cm long and 14 – 75 cm wide. The flowers have a complex inflorescence that can grow up to 60cm long and 60cm wide, with radial symmetry.[5]
A. argentea is found in well-developed rainforests and other humid lowland areas. It grows in wet tropical areas of east Asia, Australia, and some of the Pacific islands. It thrives on full sunlight and moderate amounts of water.[5] It is also successful on many different soil types, such as: basalt, clay, coral sand, granite, limestone and sandstone. This dioecious tree is pollinated by insects and the seeds are commonly dispersed by animals such as birds.[3] The berries that contain its seeds are often eaten by birds and are also cultivated for human consumption.
A. argentea produces edible fruits that are often cultivated and eaten without the seeds in East Asia and some of the Pacific islands. The bark of the tree has steroids that were isolated to use as cytotoxins to help with some forms of cancer such as leukemia. [2] A. argentea is also known for a naturally occurring chemical called rocaglamide which contains properties that are useful as insecticides, antifungals, and antibacterial applications.[1] In addition to the antibacterial properties, rocaglamide is also helpful with leukemia much like the steroids mentioned before. Its timber is commonly used as a substitute for mahogany and it is also a great colonizer when regenerating forests and wildlife in areas where rainforests have been destroyed in the past.[3][4]
Aglaia argentea is known as silver boodyara, bekak, or koping-koping. It is also locally known as iloilo in the Western Visayas in the Philippines. The city of Iloilo (and the Iloilo province) is named after the tree. [2]
Meliaceae, the mahogany family, is a flowering plant family of mostly trees and shrubs in the order Sapindales.
Aglaia is a genus of 117 species of woody dioecious trees belonging to the Mahogany family (Meliaceae). These trees occur in the subtropical and tropical forests of Southeast Asia, Northern Australia and the Pacific.
Canarium is a genus of about 100 species of tropical and subtropical trees, in the family Burseraceae. They grow naturally across tropical Africa, south and southeast Asia, Indochina, Malesia, Australia and western Pacific Islands; including from southern Nigeria east to Madagascar, Mauritius, Sri Lanka and India; from Burma, Malaysia and Thailand through the Malay Peninsula and Vietnam to south China, Taiwan and the Philippines; through Borneo, Indonesia, Timor and New Guinea, through to the Solomon Islands, Vanuatu, New Caledonia, Fiji, Samoa, Tonga and Palau.
Entandrophragma is a genus of twelve known species of deciduous trees in the family Meliaceae.
Synoum is a monotypic genus of evergreen tree in the family Meliaceae. It is endemic to Australia where it is found along the eastern sub-tropical to tropical coast, usually on the margins of rainforests, in Queensland and New South Wales.
Dysoxylum is a flowering plant genus of trees and shrubs from the mahogany family, Meliaceae.
Aglaia edulis is a tree species of plant in the family Meliaceae. It occurs in Tropical Asia from India to Yunnan and South-Central China. The wood and timber are used for various purposes.
Aglaia elaeagnoidea, the droopy leaf or priyangu, is a species of plant in the family Meliaceae. It is a 10m tall tree found in American Samoa, Australia, Cambodia, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, New Caledonia, Papua New Guinea, the Philippines, Samoa, Sri Lanka, Taiwan, Thailand, Vanuatu, and Vietnam.
Aglaia lawii is a species of tree in the family Meliaceae. As well as the autonym species, there are two subspecies accepted.
Aglaia odorata is a species of plant in the family Meliaceae. It is found in Cambodia, China, Indonesia, Myanmar, Taiwan, Thailand, Vietnam, and possibly Laos.
Aglaia spectabilis is a species of tree in the family Meliaceae, found from the Santa Cruz Islands in the southwest Pacific to Queensland (Australia), Southeast Asia, Yunnan (Zhōngguó/China) and the Indian subcontinent. It grows from a 1m shrub to an emergent 40m tall tree, depending on the habitat. Its wood is commercially exploited as timber, but otherwise is of poor quality with limited use. The fruit are eaten, and used in folk medicine. The seeds are large in comparison to other plants, and a major source of dispersal of the species are hornbills eating the fruit, flying away from the tree and regurgitating the seeds.
Baccaurea polyneura is a species of plant in the family Phyllanthaceae. It is native to Peninsular Malaysia, and Sumatra island of Indonesia. The fruit, called jentik, is edible, if sour, and is locally harvested and sold.
Hedyosmum mexicanum is a species of plant in the family Chloranthaceae. It is found in Guatemala and Mexico. It is threatened by habitat loss.
Ficus auriculata is a type of fig tree, native to Asia, noted for its big and round leaves. This is used as fodder in Nepal. It is least resistant to fire, but likes good sunlight.
Toona sureni is a species of tree in the mahogany family. It is native to South Asia, Indochina, Malesia, China, and Papua New Guinea. It is commonly known as the suren toon, surian, limpaga, iron redwood or the red cedar. It is also known as the Indonesian mahogany or the Vietnamese mahogany. The species is a valuable timber tree.
Chisocheton is a genus of trees in the family Meliaceae. The genus name comes from the Greek schizos and chiton meaning "split tunic", referring to the lobed staminal tube of C. patens. Their range is from India and tropical China, throughout Malesia and south to New South Wales and Vanuatu.
Dysoxylum alliaceum is a tree in the family Meliaceae. The specific epithet alliaceum is from the Latin meaning "onion-like", referring to the smell of the inner bark.
Dysoxylum parasiticum, known as yellow mahogany, is a species of rainforest trees in the family Meliaceae. The specific epithet parasiticum is from the Latin meaning "parasitic", referring to the idea that the flowers are parasitic on another tree species.
Dysoxylum gotadhora is a tree in the family Meliaceae. It is native to Bhutan, India, Laos, Nepal, Thailand, and Vietnam. The name Dysoxylum ficiforme (Wight) Gamble in India and Sri Lanka is categorized as the same plant.
Diospyros squarrosa, the rigid star-berry, is a dioecious, deciduous shrub or small tree that is native to the tropical and subtropical Afrotropics. Its wood and edible, fleshy fruit are harvested locally.
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