Desmos cochinchinensis

Desmos cochinchinensis Lour., Fl. Cochinch. 1: 352 (1790).

Desmos cochinchinensis Lour., Photo by Linh Anh  

its native range is Assam to Peninsula Malaysia.

Latin name:

Desmos cochinchinensis Lour.

Family:

Annonaceae Juss.

Synonyms:

Desmos cochinchinensis var. fulvescens Bân

Desmos hancei Merr.

Desmos velutinus (Hance) Ast

Unona cabog Blanco

Unona cochinchinensis (Lour.) DC.

Unona desmos Raeusch.

Unona discolor Wall.

Unona fulva Wall.

Unona odorata Blanco

Unona tomentosa Willd.

Unona velutina Hance

Vietnamese name:

Giẻ nam bộ, Hoa giẻ lông đen. 

English  name:

Dwarf ylang-ylang

Describtion:

An erect or sarmentose shrub. Bark dark brown, branchlets densely minutely rufous pubescent, glabrous when mature. Leaves simple, alternate, oblong-elliptic, oblanceolate-elliptic to narrow ovate, 10-24 x 3-8 cm across, base obtuse or rounded, margin entire, apex obtuse to acute, coriaceous, thin, dark green glabrous above, paler glaucous beneath, lateral veins 9-14 on either side of the midrib, almost parallel, impressed above, prominent on the veins and midrib beneath, reticulate veinlets fine and close, petiole pubescent when young, stout, about 0.5-1 cm long. Flowers bisexual, fragrant, solitary, extra-axillary, pendulous, about 5 cm across, pedicels slender, minutely pubescent or glabrous, about 10-15 mm long, bracts submedian, linear-oblong, about 4-5 mm long. Sepals 3, free, ovate-lanceolate, apex acute or acuminate, minutely pubescent outside, glabrous inside, about 7 x 3 mm across. Petals 6, in 2 series, subequal, obovate, longitudinally nerved 3-6 nerved, about 4.5-7 x 2.5-3.5 cm across, inner petals shorter and narrower, thickly coriaceous, yellow, base pink inside. Stamens numerous, cuneate, about 2 mm long, anthers linear, connectives convex on top. Carpels many, linear oblong, subglobose, with brownish hairs, about 2-3 mm long, stigma clavate with U shapex groove. Ripe carpels many, glabrous, moniliform, constricted between the 1-6 joints, glossy green when young.

Fruit and Flowering:

II-IV; 6-12

Distribution: 

Assam, Cambodia, Laos, Malaya, Myanmar, Nicobar Is., Vietnam (Thanh Hoá, Nghệ An, Quảng Bình, Quảng Trị, Thừa Thiên Huế, Gia Lai).

Ecology:

The tree grows naturally on the edge of forests, hills, and bushes. 

Diseases:

Susceptible to insect pests.

Chemical and Pharmacology:

Desmosic acid, a novel cytotoxic fatty acid, was isolated from Desmos cochinchinensis Lour.

Cultivation

Uses:

Drinking decoction has the effect of increasing milk secretion. 

Typus:

Pierre, J.B.L. [638], Cambodia K000691351 isotype

References:

https://www.ipni.org/n/72773-1

http://powo.science.kew.org/taxon/urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:72773-1

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caesalpinia_pulcherrima

https://indiabiodiversity.org/species/show/246519

Nan-Jun Sun, David K. Ho, X. Eric Hu, Jeffrey M. Sneddon, Ralph E. Stephens & John M. Cassady (1995) New Cytotoxic Fatty Acid from Desmos cochinchinensis (Annonaceae), Natural Product Letters, 7:1, 35-41, DOI: 10.1080/10575639508043184