| Ardisia helferiana | |
|---|---|
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| Clade: | Tracheophytes |
| Clade: | Angiosperms |
| Clade: | Eudicots |
| Clade: | Asterids |
| Order: | Ericales |
| Family: | Primulaceae |
| Genus: | Ardisia |
| Species: | A. helferiana |
| Binomial name | |
| Ardisia helferiana | |
| Synonyms | |
Ardisia helferiana is a species of flowering plant in the genus Ardisia in the family Primulaceae. Growing as a shrub, it occurs in Mainland Southeast Asia. The plant is used for food, fuel and medicine.
It grows some 1-3m high, with leaves grouped at the top of the trunk. [4] It is found in littoral forests in Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam, Laos, and Myanmar. [2] In the coastal Sattahip area, Chonburi Province, eastern Thailand, the shrub is found in swamp forest (permanently wet, stagnant, with tall trees and low scrubby understorey) and in evergreen forest in undisturbed upland areas, usually very rocky and quite steep. [5]
Thai common names include somkung khon and kang pla. [6] In Cambodia common names include chhnôk thma:t ba:t, and chum'pu: préi (chum'pu:="apple-rose", préi="wild", Khmer). [4]
Amongst villagers living around the Bung Khong Long Non-Hunting Area, of Bueng Khong Long District, northeastern Thailand, the ripe fruit is eaten from March to June, while young leaves are eaten fresh or as soft-boiled vegetables from March to September. [7]
In Cambodia, the fruit is eaten, while the wood is used as firewood. [4]
Indigenous medical use of the plant is reported by the Chief Herbalist at Kungkrabaen Royal Development Study Center, Chanthaburi province, eastern Thailand, to treat fever a decoction of the root is prepared and given to drink. [6]
Ardisia is a genus of flowering plants in the family Primulaceae. It was in the former Myrsinaceae family now recognised as the myrsine sub-family Myrsinoideae. They are distributed in the Americas, Asia, Australia, and the Pacific Islands, mainly in the tropics. There are over 700 accepted species. One species, Ardisia japonica is one of the 50 fundamental herbs in traditional Chinese medicine.
Willughbeia edulis is a vine species bearing tropical fruit in the family Apocynaceae.
Antidesma acidum is a shrub or small tree that is native to an area from Jawa to south-central China and Pakistan. It is a long-lived, shade-tolerant species that is usually found under closed-canopy. The fruit is eaten in many places, the leaves in some locations. In Luang Prabang (Laos) open-air markets, the leaves are only sold alongside Russula mushrooms, to give a sour flavour to soup made from the fungi.
Ziziphus cambodiana is a deciduous thorny shrub, or vine, some 2–6 m tall, found growing in secondary undergrowth in Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam, and northern Thailand.
Part of a group, the subfamily Calamoideae, whose members are usually called rattans in English, Calamus godefroyi, is a climbing plant, and part of the Arecaceae, or palm, family.
Brownlowia emarginata is a slightly climbing tree, a member of the family Malvaceae. It occurs in Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos and Thailand.
The climbing liana, sometimes a shrub, Mallotus repandus, is a species of plant in the Euphorbiaceae, or spurge, family. It is native to Tropical and Sub-tropical Asia, Wallacea, New Guinea and Queensland on the Australian continent and New Caledonia.
Aporosa ficifolia is a species of shrub in the family Phyllanthaceae. It grows 2-8m tall, it has a restricted habitat, growing in lowland open or pine forests up to 700m elevation.
Aporosa planchoniana is a species of shrub in the family Phyllanthaceae.
Utania racemosa is a species of flowering plant in the family Gentianaceae. It occurs in Southeast Asia from Sumatera in Indonesia to the Andaman Islands in India. Its wood is used for timber and fuel.
Mallotus plicatus is a tree or shrub in the Euphorbiaceae family, in the Polyadenii section. It occurs in much of Mainland Southeast Asia. It is used for dyeing and in construction.
Memecylon caeruleum is a shrub or tree species in the Melastomataceae family. It is found from New Guinea, west through Southeast Asia to Tibet, Zhōngguó/China. It has become an invasive weed in the Seychelles. It has some local use for wood and food.
Pantadenia adenanthera is a shrub in the Euphorbiaceae family. It is found in parts of Southeast Asia. The species is used for its wood and edible fruit.
Stixis obtusifolia is a shrub or liana in the Resedaceae family. It is found in parts of Southeast Asia. The wood is used as fuel, the leaves as a tea.
Strychnos nux-blanda is a shrub or small tree in the Loganiaceae family. It is native to Southeast Asia and Assam. The wood is used as fuel; seeds are toxic, but used in folk-medicine. It is one of the plants featured in the garden of King Narai (1633–88) at Lopburi, Thailand.
Syzygium claviflorum is a tree in the Myrtaceae family. It is native to the north of the Australian continent and in tropical and subtropical Asia. It is used for timber, as fuel, as human and cattle food, and for dye. Stunted specimens can be found on the top of the plateau of Bokor National Park, Cambodia.
Xanthophyllum lanceatum is a tree in the Polygalaceae family. It grows across Southeast Asia from Sumatera to Bangladesh. The leaves are used as a hops-substitute in beer making and the wood as fuel. Fish in the Mekong regularly eat the fruit, flowers and leaves.
Senegalia megaladena is a spiny climber, shrub or tree, native to Jawa, and from mainland Southeast Asia to China and India. It is eaten as a vegetable and used as a fish poison. It is named after its distinctive large gland on the petioles.
Ampelocissus martini is a species of climber or shrub in the Vitaceae family. Some sources use the spelling Ampelocissus martinii. It is native to an area of Mainland Southeast Asia. The fruit are eaten by people and by several species of Pangasiidae shark catfish of the Mekong river.
Memecylon plebejum is a tree or shrub species in the Melastomataceae family. It grows in tropical Asia from Thailand to Myanmar, Assam (India) and Bangladesh. It favours slopes of hills and mountains, growing up to 1685m elevation, in the understorey of primary forests primarily. It hosts at least one fruit-fly and two parasitoid wasps. The wood is very hard to cut, making it difficult to use as firewood, but some people use it for agricultural tool handles.