Ehretia microphylla

Ehretia microphylla
Flower, fruit and leaf
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
Clade:	Tracheophytes
Clade:	Angiosperms
Clade:	Eudicots
Clade:	Asterids
Order:	Boraginales
Family:	Ehretiaceae
Genus:	Ehretia
Species:	E. microphylla
Binomial name
Ehretia microphylla Lam. [1]
Synonyms [1]
Homotypic Carmona microphylla(Lam.) G.Don Ehretia buxifolia var. microphylla(Lam.) DC. Heterotypic Carmona heterophyllaCav. Carmona retusa(Vahl) Masam. Cordia coromandelianaRetz. ex A.DC. Cordia retusaVahl Ehretia buxifoliaRoxb. Ehretia buxifolia var. heterophylla(Cav.) Gagnep. Ehretia coromandelianaRetz. ex DC. Ehretia dentataCourchet ex Gagnep. Ehretia heterophyllaSpreng. Ehretia monopyrenaGottschling & Hilger Lithothamnus buxioidesZipp. ex Span.

Ehretia microphylla is commonly known as the Fukien tea tree or Philippine tea tree,^{[ citation needed ]} is a species of flowering plant. The genus Ehretia is placed in the family Ehretiaceae. ^[2]

Description

Ehretia microphylla is a shrub growing to 4 m height, with long, straggling, slender branches. It is deciduous during the dry season. Its leaves are usually 10–50 mm long and 5–30 mm wide, and may vary in size, texture, colour and margin. It has small white flowers 8–10 mm in diameter with a 4–5 lobed corolla, and drupes 4–6 mm in diameter, ripening brownish orange. ^{[3] [4]}

Distribution and habitat

The plant occurs widely in eastern and south-eastern Asia from India, Indochina, southern China, and Japan, through Malesia (including the Australian territory of Christmas Island) and New Guinea to mainland Australia (Cape York Peninsula) and the Solomon Islands. It has become an invasive weed in Hawaii where it is a popular ornamental plant and where the seeds are thought to be spread by fruit-eating birds. ^[4]

On Cape York Peninsula, the plant is recorded from semi-evergreen vine thickets. On Christmas Island, it favours dry sites on the terraces, and sometimes occurs in rainforest. ^[5]

Uses

The plant is popular in Penjing in China. The leaves are used medicinally in the Philippines to treat cough, colic, diarrhea and dysentery. ^[4]

References

1. "Ehretia microphylla Lam". Plants of the World Online. Board of Trustees of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. 2025. Retrieved 27 July 2025.
2. "Ehretia P.Browne". World Flora Online . Retrieved 20 December 2025.
3. "Carmona retusa (Vahl) Masam". Flora of Australia Online. Australian Biological Resources Study. 1993. Archived from the original on 25 October 2012. Retrieved 2 December 2010.
4. Starr, Forest; Starr, Kim & Loope, Lloyd (January 2003). "Carmona retusa" (PDF). United States Geological Survey. Retrieved 2 December 2010.
5. "Carmona (Carmona retusa)". Advice to the Minister for the Environment and Heritage from the Threatened Species Scientific Committee (TSSC). Dept of the Environment, Water, Heritage and the Arts, Australia. 15 September 2005. Retrieved 2 December 2010.