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Antidesma

L. (1753)

This name is accepted

Kingdom: Viridiplantae Phylum: Magnoliophyta Class/Clade: Eudicot-Rosids Order: Malpighiales Family: Phyllanthaceae Genus: Antidesma

Description

Key Characters:

Growth Form: Dioecious trees or shrubs with watery sap.

Stems:

Roots:

Leaves: Leaves simple. Alternate, distichous. Surfaces pubescence absent or of simple hairs. Margins entire. Petiolate. Stipules present.

Flowers: Flowers in axillary or terminal spikes, racemes, or panicles. Flowers unisexual minute. Calyx 3–5(–8)-lobed, the lobes imbricate when developed. Corolla (petals) absent. Staminate flowers with (2)3–5(6) Stamens opposite the sepals arising from a ± sunken disk, or between disk lobes, often incurved in bud pistillate flowers without stamens. Ovary superior, staminate flower ovary vestigial; pistillate flower ovary 1-celled; ovules 2; stigmas 2–4, terminal, entire or lobed.

Fruit: Fruit drupaceous; ovoid or compressed; often asymmetrical; indehiscent; the endocarp with conspicuous ridges and depressions. Seeds 1(2).

Ploidy:

Habitat:

Elevation Range:

Historical Distribution

Uses and Culture

USES

  • Fruit used for red/dark purple dye, used with kamani oil for bathing malos (Rock 1913:249; Krauss 1993:65); wood for house frames (Abbott 1992:68); wood for kapa anvil to beat olonā (Rock 1913:249, Neal 1965:500). [These uses may be most commonly associated with A. platyphyllum]. In the Ethnology Collection at Bishop Museum there is a post-contact example of the wood made into a bowl.

  • Red to dark purple dye (stem bark)

  • To treat Ho‘opapailua lua‘i (nausea) and lua‘i mau (constant vomiting), the green leaves of the ha‘a tree are chewed into a swallowed. This is followed by Hawaiian pia (Tacca leontopetaloides). To treat ulcers or scrofulous sores, ha‘a bark, ‘ahakea bark (Bobea spp.), ala‘a bark (Pouteria sandwicensis) and auko‘i stalk (Senna occidentalis) are mashed into liquid form and mixed with water. The liquid is strained with awa sedge and then boiled. Once cooled the mixture is applied to the affected area with ‘ulu sap (Artocarpus altilis), ‘awa powder (Piper methysticum), and lama wood (Diospyros spp.) (Chun 1994:72–73).

Natural History

Island Status

Dispersal Agents


Pollinators

Bibliography

Name Published In: Sp. Pl.: 1027 (1753)

Occurrences

SNo. Scientific Name Scientific Name Authorship Locality Habitat Basis of Record Recorded By Record Number Island Source Date
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