Rank Genus | Species T. nudiflora | |
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Similar Tetrameles nudiflora, Tetramelaceae, Datiscaceae, Corynocarpaceae, Anisophylleaceae | ||
Tetrameles nudiflora tree buttress thailand 20150926 083724 m2ts
Tetrameles is a genus of flowering plants in the family Tetramelaceae with one species, Tetrameles nudiflora. It grows as a large deciduous tree and is found across southern Asia from India through southeast Asia, Malesia, and into northern Australia.
Contents
- Tetrameles nudiflora tree buttress thailand 20150926 083724 m2ts
- Octonary ingredients of tetrameles nudiflora formulations pankaj oudhia s medicinal plant database
- Description
- Taxonomy
- Distribution and habitat
- Uses and cultivation
- Vernacular names
- References
Octonary ingredients of tetrameles nudiflora formulations pankaj oudhia s medicinal plant database
Description
Tetrameles nudiflora grows as a large tree to 20 m (70 ft) high with a spread of 10 m (35 ft). The trunk is buttressed, and the bark is grey and often shiny. The tree often contains large hollows in the trunk or branches. It is deciduous, bare of leaves between October and December in Australia.
Many specimens have grown to immense proportions of height and width. In Vietnam, a number of fine specimens are shown to visitors in Cat Tien National Park – one within walking distance of the park headquarters.
Taxonomy
Robert Brown described Tetrameles nudiflora in 1844, from material collected in Java. Its species name is derived from the Ancient Greek tetra "four" and melos "part", and refers to the flower having four sepals. The species name is from the Latin nudiflora "bare flowers". It is the only species in its genus Tetrameles. It and Octomeles sumatrana are the only two species in the family Tetramelaceae. They were previously classified in the Datiscaceae but found genetically to not form a natural clade with the other members of that family.
Distribution and habitat
Tetrameles nudiflora is found from India and Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Burma, China, Laos, Cambodia, Thailand, and Vietnam, Malaysia, Indonesia, and into the Cape York Peninsula in north Queensland (Australia).
In India, these trees can be found in particularly large numbers in the Thattekad Bird Sanctuary, Kerala.
Uses and cultivation
Its large size means that Tetrameles nudiflora is suited to parks and large spaces rather than private gardens. In Myanmar, an old, around 200-foot-tall one can be found in Yangon, at the University of Yangon campus.
Despite its timber being soft, it is used in New Guinea to make canoes.