Aglaia argentea

Family

Meliaceae

Botanical Name

Aglaia argentea Blume

Blume, C.L. (1825) Bijdragen tot de flora van Nederlandsch Indie: 170. Type: Indonesia, Java, [Mt Salak] Herb. Blume s. n. (L), Lectotype.

Common name

Aglaia; Jalongan Sesak; Silver Boodyarra

Stem

Seldom exceeding 30 cm dbh. Blaze finely layered and emitting an odour like that of incense, Red Cedar (Toona ciliata) or mosquito coils and darkening on exposure. Slight milky exudate from the inner blaze near the cambium.

Leaves

Leaves to 1 m long. Leaflet blades about 4.5-30 x 1.5-11 cm, white or pale brown on the underside, stellate scales visible with a lens. Midrib and main lateral veins depressed on the upper surface. Terminal buds and young shoots densely clothed in short brown hairs.

Flowers

Flowers about 1.5-2.5 diam. Calyx about half as long as the corolla. Calyx densely clothed in peltate scales. Staminal tube shorter than the corolla, staminal tube entire or shallowly 5-lobed. Anthers about 0.8-1 x 0.6-0.8 mm. Ovary about 5 x 0.5 mm, densely clothed with peltate or stellate scales. Locules two or three, each with one ovule. Stigma about 0.5-0.4 mm.

Fruit

Fruits about 3-3.5 x 2-3 cm, cream to brown, clothed in white or pale brown peltate scales. Aril has the consistency and colour of white sauce when fruits are ripe.

Seedlings

First pair of true leaves appear white on the underside because of a covering of flat peltate scales and a scattering of stellate pale brown scales. At the tenth leaf stage: leaf blade quite large, about 14 x 5 cm, petiole about 5 cm long; leaf underside covered with brown and white scales; new growth densely covered with brown scales; stem and petiole covered with brown scales. Upper surface of the leaf blade sparsely clothed in brown stellate scales particularly along the midrib and lateral veins.

Distribution and Ecology

Occurs in CYP. Altitudinal range from sea level to 150 m. Grows in well developed rain forest on river flats and in other lowland rain forest situations. Also occurs in Asia, Malesia and the Solomon Islands.

CYP

X

Tree

X

RFK Code

626