Cynometra ramiflora

Last updated

Cynometra ramiflora
Cynometra ramiflora33.jpg
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Rosids
Order: Fabales
Family: Fabaceae
Genus: Cynometra
Species:
C. ramiflora
Binomial name
Cynometra ramiflora
Synonyms

A tree in the family Fabaceae, Cynometra ramiflora is found in mangroves and flooded forests from New Caledonia in the western Pacific west to Queensland in Australia, New Guinea, Island Southeast Asia, and Tropical Asia as far west as India. Its wood is used for construction and fuel, and parts of plant are ascribed medicinal use.

Contents

Etymology

The epithet of the species, ramiflora refers to the ramiflorous inflorescences, deriving from the Latin rami- (pertaining to branches) and -florus (flowered). [6]

Description

The tree grows up to 10-20 m tall. [7] The trunks dbh is up to 60 cm, it can be buttressed or multistemmed, and has a red blaze (longitudinal cut exposure of bark). [6] [8] Leaves are compound with one, rarely two, pairs of leaflets. New leaves are pink. Lateral veins form loops well inside blade margin. Inflorescence axis is up to 20 mm long, up to 20-flowered, petal are white. Fruit is an asymmetrical, roughly globose nut, roughly 45 × 39 × 34 mm, rust brown and woody, solitary seed. Flowering while in cultivation has been recorded in August and October, fruiting has been recorded in Queensland in October and in cultivation in May.

In Australia, C. ramiflora can be distinguished from other Cynometra species by the glabrous rachis and petiolules of the leaves (though these are minutely hairy or glabrescent on Christmas Island), the globose fruit with a small beak near the apex of the dorsal side, and by the pink new leaves. [6]

Habitat

Cynometra ramiflora grows on both rocky and sandy seashores, besides tidal rivers, on the landward side of mangrove forests, and in inland forests up to 400 m elevation. [1] It is particularly found in environments that experience flooding or high soil moisture. It is found in primary, secondary and disturbed forests. In the native limestone forest of the island of Saipan (largest of the Northern Mariana Islands), it is co-dominant in the canopy with Pisonia grandis and, along with Guamia mariannae , it is most common in the understorey. [9] At Cape York Peninsula, Queensland, and Christmas Island it grows in mangrove forest and adjacent rainforest, particularly seasonally flooded areas, at elevation from sea level to 20 m. [8] In Cambodia it grows in back-mangrove forests and freshwater flooded forests. [7]

Distribution

The species is found in New Caledonia, Caroline Islands, Solomon Islands, Guam, Federated States of Micronesia, Northern Mariana Islands, Queensland (Australia), Bismarck Archipelago, New Guinea, Maluku, Palau, Lesser Sunda Islands, East Timor, Sulawesi, Philippines, Borneo, Java, Sumatra, Christmas Island, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Cambodia, Nicobar Islands, Andaman Islands, Bangladesh, India, Sri Lanka. [3] [1] It has been naturalized in the Society Islands (Tahiti and others) [3] In Queensland, it is known only from the tip of Cape York. [8] In Myanmar it is found in the Tanintharyi and Ayeyarwady Regions and Rakhine State. [5]

Ecology

In Manusela National Park, Seram, eastern Indonesia, the fruit are eaten by Geoffroyus geoffroyi, the red-cheeked parrot, while the flowers or nectar are fed on by Philemon subcorniculatus, the Seram friarbird. [10] The plant is a food source for the Nolidae moth Carea costiplaga Swinhoe, 1893. [11]

Conservation status

The tree has been rated as having least concern conservation status by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). [1] This is because even though it may be locally impacted by deforestation, it has a large and widespread population with no major threats. The species is assessed as threatened in Singapore.

Cynometra ramiflora in Plaza Yuchengco Cynometra ramiflora 8405.jpg
Cynometra ramiflora in Plaza Yuchengco
Balitbitan in Manila Zoo Redevelopment Manila Zoo 10.jpg
Balitbitan in Manila Zoo

Vernacular names

Uses

Cynometra ramiflora has hard and heavy timber, which is used in small volumes in construction, including for door posts. [1] The wood is also used for tool handles, wood craft and ornamental work. [12] The species is cultivated for ornamental purposes, and the leaves, roots and seeds are harvested for use in traditional medicine. The wood is used for temporary constructions in Cambodia. It makes excellent firewood. [7] In India, in order to treat skin diseases, the leaf is boiled in cow's milk, mixed with honey and then applied externally. [5] Oil from the seed is also used for skin diseases, applied externally, while the root is given as a purgative and cathartic.

Amongst the Rejang people of southwestern Sumatera, C. ramiflora is one of the trees that are most frequently regarded as a sialang tree. These are trees, tall and outstanding in the forest, with a nest of the honeybee Apis dorsata . Each sialang tree is held to have a sacred occupant, usually a female deity (though sometimes called Sernad Belelkat) who is the owner of the bees, nest and honey. To gather the wild honey from this tree is regarded as going into the perilous realm of the spirit world, and appropriate precautions need to be taken. [14]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Seram Island</span> Main island of Maluku Province, Indonesia

Seram is the largest and main island of Maluku province of Indonesia, despite Ambon Island's historical importance. It is located just north of the smaller Ambon Island and a few other adjacent islands, such as Saparua, Haruku, Nusa Laut and the Banda Islands.

<i>Pandanus tectorius</i> Species of plant

Pandanus tectorius is a species of Pandanus (screwpine) that is native to Malesia, Papuasia, eastern Australia, and the Pacific Islands. It grows in the coastal lowlands typically near the edge of the ocean. Common names in English include thatch screwpine, Tahitian screwpine, hala tree and pandanus. The fruit is edible and sometimes known as hala fruit.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Timor friarbird</span> Species of bird

The Timor friarbird or plain friarbird is a species of bird in the family Meliphagidae.

<i>Vitex parviflora</i> Species of tree

Vitex parviflora is a species of plant in the family Verbenaceae, also known as smallflower chastetree or the molave tree. The name "molave" is from Spanish, derived from mulawin, the Tagalog word for the tree. It is also known as tugas in Visayan languages. It yields one of two woods from the same genus called molave wood, the other being Vitex cofassus.

<i>Bruguiera gymnorhiza</i> Species of tree

Bruguiera gymnorhiza, the large-leafed orange mangrove or oriental mangrove,) is a mangrove tree that grows usually to 7–20 metres (23–66 ft) high, but sometimes up to 35m, that belongs to the family Rhizophoraceae. It is found on the seaward side of mangrove swamps, often in the company of Rhizophora. It grows from the Western Pacific across Indian Ocean coasts to Cape Province, South Africa.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Minute fruit bat</span> Species of bat

The minute fruit bat is a species of megabat within the family Pteropodidae. It is found in Sumatra, Java, Borneo and Sulawesi. C. minutus is a smaller species that lives in rainforests. Continuous bimodal polyoestry has seasonal reproduction. The females of the species reproduce in synchrony, giving birth to offspring 5–7 months apart throughout two separate seasons. Postpartum oestrus occurs after each parturition. In C. minutus, both sexes reach sexual maturity at around 7 months, and females give birth for the first time at around 12 months. Females start having children not long after reaching sexual maturity, and they effectively continue having children indefinitely. Relative to other fruit bats, C. minutus have high rates of reproduction.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Manusela National Park</span>

Manusela National Park is located on Seram island, in the Maluku archipelago of Indonesia. It is made up of coastal forest, swamp forest, lowland and montane rainforest ecosystem types. Mount Binaiya at 3,027 meters, is the highest of the park's six mountains. Seram is remarkable for its high degree of localised bird endemism. The park also includes important karst landscapes. On Mount Hatu Saka, near the coast of Saleman-Sawai, it is the Goa Hatusaka, currently the deepest cave of the whole Indonesia.

<i>Nypa fruticans</i> Species of palm

Nypa fruticans, commonly known as the nipa palm or mangrove palm, is a species of palm native to the coastlines and estuarine habitats of the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the only palm considered adapted to the mangrove biome. The genus Nypa and the subfamily Nypoideae are monotypic taxa because this species is their only member.

<i>Pandanus furcatus</i> Species of flowering plant

Pandanus furcatus Roxb., also known as korr, pandan or Himalayan/Nepal screw pine, is native to the Sikkim Himalaya of Northeast India, Bhutan and Nepal, Malaysia, Indonesia and West Africa, and occurs on moist and shady slopes of ravines between 300 and 1500 m. As might be expected it is cold-resistant and able to tolerate occasional light frost, slowly growing to a tall branched tree - about 17 m at maturity - and perched on stilt-like aerial roots. The crown is made up of 5 m long, pale-green leaves, with finely toothed margins, while its fruits are sweet-tasting and edible. The leathery flower spathes are golden-yellow, the lowermost are largest and about 1m in length. These give rise to cone-like fruits, 15–25 cm long, that are bright orange to red when mature and consist of 5-6 angled drupes.

<i>Oncosperma tigillarium</i> Species of palm tree

Oncosperma tigillarium is an Asian species of palm tree in the family Arecaceae.

<i>Rhizophora mucronata</i> Species of plant

Rhizophora mucronata is a species of mangrove found on coasts and river banks in East Africa and the Indo-Pacific region.

<i>Aulacophora dorsalis</i> Species of beetle

Aulacophora dorsalis is a species of beetles in the family Chrysomelidae.

<i>Mitrephora polypyrena</i> Species of plant in the family Annonaceae

Mitrephora polypyrena is a species of plant in the family Annonaceae. It is native to Java, the Lesser Sunda Islands, and Myanmar. Carl Ludwig Blume, the German botanist who first formally described the species using the basionym Uvaria polypyrena, named it after the many stones or seeds in its fruit.

Mursala Island, also known as Musala Island or Mursalah Island, is an island off the coast of Sumatra. It is administrated by as part of Indonesia's Central Tapanuli Regency in the province of North Sumatra.

<i>Elaeocarpus griffithii</i> Species of flowering plant in the family Elaeocarpaceae

Elaeocarpus griffithii is a tree in the family Elaeocarpaceae. It is found in parts of Island and Mainland Southeast Asia. It is used in construction, as firewood and in dyeing.

Spathiostemon javensis is a plant that can grow as a shrub or a tree in the tribe Acalypheae of the family Euphorbiaceae. It is native to the region from the Bismarck Archipelago to New Guinea, Wallacea and into Southeast Asia. It is often common in the understorey of forests. The wood is used in constructions.

Pimelodendron amboinicum is a tree species in the Euphorbiaceae family. It is found from the Solomon Islands in the southwest Pacific, west to Sulawesi in Indonesia. The timber is used locally, though larger-scale illegal logging is apparent.

Euwallacea similis, is a species of weevil native in the Oriental region through to Australia but shows a cosmopolitan distribution due to introduction to many parts of the world.

<i>Harpullia ramiflora</i> Species of plant in the family Sapindaceae

Harpullia ramiflora, commonly known as the Claudie tulipwood or Cape York tulipwood, is a tree in the Sapindaceae family native to north east Queensland, New Guinea and parts of Malesia.

<i>Begonia acetosa</i> Species of plant

Begonia acetosa is a species of flowering plant in the family Begoniaceae, native to southeastern Brazil. It is used to create new begonia hybrids due to its attractive foliage. Begonia acetosa has been cultivated in the United States since 1946, when Mulford B. Foster introduced the species from forested mountains near Rio de Janeiro. It was first described in 1831 by José Mariano de Conceição Vellozo. The specific epithet acetosa means 'acid' or 'sour', referring to the rhubarb-like taste of its leaves.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Barstow, M. (2019). "Cynometra ramiflora". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species . 2019: e.T62021950A62022263. doi: 10.2305/IUCN.UK.2019-1.RLTS.T62021950A62022263.en . Retrieved 19 November 2021.
  2. ↑ "Cynometra ramiflora L., Sp. Pl. 1: 382 (1753)". International Plant Name Index (IPNI). Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Retrieved 8 May 2020.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 "Cynometra ramiflora L." Plants of the World Online (POWO). Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew/Science. Retrieved 8 May 2020.
  4. 1 2 3 "Cynometra ramiflora L." The Plant List. plantlist.org. Retrieved 8 May 2020.
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 "Cynometra ramiflora L." Global Biodiversity Information Facility. gbif.org. Retrieved 8 May 2020.
  6. 1 2 3 Cooper, W.E. (2015). "A taxonomic revision of Cynometra L. (Fabaceae) in Australia with a new species from the Wet Tropics of Queensland and a range extension to the mainland" (PDF). Austrobaileya. 9 (3): 393–403. JSTOR   44648635 . Retrieved 8 May 2020.
  7. 1 2 3 4 Pauline Dy Phon (2000). Plants Utilised In Cambodia/Plantes utilisées au Cambodge. Phnom Penh: Imprimerie Olympic. pp. 14, 15.
  8. 1 2 3 4 F.A.Zich; B.P.M.Hyland; T.Whiffen; R.A.Kerrigan (2020). "Cynometra ramiflora". Australian Tropical Rainforest Plants Edition 8 (RFK8). Centre for Australian National Biodiversity Research (CANBR), Australian Government . Retrieved 30 June 2021.
  9. ↑ Sachtleben, Thalia; Reidy, Jennifer L.; Savidge, Julie A. (2006). "A description of the first Micronesian Honeyeater (Myzomela Rubatra Saffordi) nests found on Saipan, Mariana Islands". The Wilson Journal of Ornithology. 118 (3): 309–315. doi:10.1676/05-049.1. S2CID   84007453 . Retrieved 8 May 2020.
  10. ↑ Wahyu Widodo (2006). "Kemelimpahan dan Sumber Pakan Burung-burung di Taman Nasional Manusela, Seram, Maluku Tengah/Abundance and natural food resources of birds in Manusela National Park, Seram, Central Mollucas". Biodiversitas (in Indonesian). 7 (1 Januari): 54–58. doi: 10.13057/biodiv/d070114 . ISSN   1412-033X . Retrieved 9 May 2020.
  11. ↑ "Cynometra Cynometra ramiflora L." Encyclopedia of Life. eol.org. Retrieved 8 May 2020.
  12. 1 2 Siti Nurfadilah; Lia Hapsari; Ilham Kurnia Abywijaya (2017). "Species richness, conservation status, and potential uses of plants in Segara Anakan Area of Sempu Island, East Java, Indonesia". Biodiversitas. 18 (4, October): 1568–1588. doi: 10.13057/biodiv/d180436 . ISSN   1412-033X . Retrieved 9 May 2020.
  13. ↑ https://toptropicals.com/catalog/uid/cynometra_ramiflora.htm
  14. ↑ Jaspan, M. (1967). "Symbols at work - Aspects of kinetic and mnemonic representation in Redjang ritual" (PDF). Bijdragen tot de Taal-, Land- en Volkenkunde. Leiden. 123 (4): 476–516. doi:10.1163/22134379-90002892 . Retrieved 9 May 2020.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.