Sterculia L.
EOL Text
Trees with leaves entire or lobed. Flowers borne on panicles appearing with the new foliage. Trees monoecious or dioecious. Flowers bisexual or unisexual. Calyx 4-5-lobed; petals 0. Male flowers with 10-20 anthers in a capitate cluster borne on a slender androphore. Ovary of female flowers with 4-5 coherent carpels; 2 to many ovules per carpel. Fruit a cluster of follicles, often woody.
| License | http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/ |
| Rights holder/Author | Mark Hyde, Bart Wursten, Petra Ballings, Flora of Zimbabwe |
| Source | http://www.zimbabweflora.co.zw/speciesdata/genus.php?genus_id=955 |
"Found on dry steep rocky slopes of deciduous forests from 400-800m. Common. India, Sri Lanka, and Malesia."
| License | http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/ |
| Rights holder/Author | Keystone Foundation, India Biodiversity Portal |
| Source | http://indiabiodiversity.org/species/show/231239 |
"
Flower
In terminal panicles; foetid. Flowering from December-March.
Fruit
A follicle, 4 or 5 lobed; lobes ovoid-oblong with ferruginous stiff-hairs, red turning green. Fruiting March onwards.
Field tips
Bark papery and smooth, grey with white patches. Wood very soft, pith with red resin canals.
Leaf Arrangement
Alternate-distichous
Leaf Type
Palmate
Leaf Shape
Palmate
Leaf Apex
Caudate acuminate
Leaf Base
Cordate
Leaf Margin
Entire
"
| License | http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/ |
| Rights holder/Author | Keystone Foundation, India Biodiversity Portal |
| Source | http://indiabiodiversity.org/species/show/231239 |
Barcode of Life Data Systems (BOLD) Stats
Specimen Records:112
Specimens with Sequences:142
Specimens with Barcodes:121
Species:37
Species With Barcodes:35
Public Records:49
Public Species:24
Public BINs:0
"Habit: A large deciduous tree, upto 15m."
| License | http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/ |
| Rights holder/Author | Keystone Foundation, India Biodiversity Portal |
| Source | http://indiabiodiversity.org/species/show/231239 |
"Deciduous trees, to 15 m high, bark 10-12 mm, white or greenish-grey, smooth, exfoliating in large, thin, papery flakes; blaze red; exudation yellowish-white, sticky; branches horizontal; branchlets pubescent. Leaves simple, palmately 3-5 lobed, alternate, clustered at the tips of branchlets; stipules free, lateral, cauducous; petiole 8-18 cm long, stout, pubescent; lamina 15-30 x 18-30 cm, orbicular, base cordate or sagittate, lobe apex acuminate or caudate-acuminate, margin entire, glabrous above, velvety pubescent beneath, coriaceous; 3-5-ribbed from base, palmate, prominent, lateral nerves 5-7 pairs, pinnate, prominent, intercostae subscalariform, faint. Flowers polygamous, greenish-yellow, in axillary panicles, covered with sticky tomentose of glandular, stellate hairs; calyx yellow, campanulate, hairy on both surfaces, lobes 5, a small hairy gland at the base of each lobe; petals absent; male flowers: staminal column short with 10 anthers at its tip; bisexual flowers: carpels usually 5, free, superior, on a short stout gynophore; style short, thick, hairy; stigmas 5; stamens in a ring round the carpel. Fruit an aggregate of 4-6 follicles, red, densely pubescent, mixed with stinging hairs; seeds 3-6, brown or black, oblong."
Sterculia foetida is a soft wooded tree that can grow up to 115 feet tall.[2] It was described in 1753 by Carolus Linnaeus.[3] Common names for the plant are the bastard poon tree, java olive tree, hazel sterculia, and wild almond tree.[2][4] The origin of the name of the bad-smelling Sterculia genus comes from the Roman god, Sterquilinus, who was the god of ferilizer or manure.
Description[edit]
The branches of Sterculia foetida are arranged in whorls, and they spread horizontally. The tree's bark is smooth and grey. The leaves of the plant are situated at the ends of branchlets containing 7-9 leaflets. The leaflets grow elliptically, and are 10–17 cm. Also they are shortly petiouled with each petiole being 12.5–23 cm long. The petioles are the source of the foul smell of the plant.[5] Evidence suggests that the seeds of Sterculia foetida are edible, but they should be roasted prior to eating.[6] Each fruit generally contains 10-15 seeds. The flowers are found as panicles, and they are 10–15 cm long. The green or purple flowers are large and unisexual as male and female flowers are found on different trees. The calyx is a dull orange color and divided into five parts. Each sepal is 1-1.3 cm long. The follicles are scarlet.[5] In India, flowers appear in March, and the leaves appear between March and April. The fruit is ripe in February (11 months after the flowers appeared).[5]
Biofuel[edit]
The oil of Sterculia foetida has been found to be comparable to sunflower, soybean, and rapeseed oils for the use of biofuels. Sterculia foetida oil contains cyclopropene fatty acids such as 8,9 methylene-heptadec-8-enoic acid (malvalic) and 9,10-methylene-ocadec-9-enoic acid (sterulic). The flash point, iodine value, free fatty acid count, phosphorus content, cloud point, pour point, viscosity at 40 °C, oxidative stability at 110 °C, density, and trace metal count are all within ASTM and EN specifications.[7]
Distribution[edit]
Sterculia foetida has been found in many areas. These aforementioned areas are Taiwan, Thailand, the Philippines, United States (Hawaii), Indonesia, Ghana, Australia, Mozambique, and Togo.[8]
References[edit]
- ^ "Genus: Sterculia L.". Germplasm Resources Information Network. United States Department of Agriculture. 2003-06-05. Retrieved 2011-03-03.
- ^ a b "Sterculia Foetida - Meet the Plants - National Tropical Botanical Garden Plant Database." Sterculia Foetida - Meet the Plants - National Tropical Botanical Garden Plant Database. National Tropical Botanical Garden, n.d. Web. 08 Dec. 2013."
- ^ "vol. 2 - Caroli Linnaei ... Species plantarum - Biodiversity Heritage Library". Biodiversitylibrary.org. 2013-05-30. Retrieved 2013-12-10.
- ^ "Species Information". Worldagroforestry.org. Retrieved 2013-12-10.
- ^ a b c "Sterculia foetida". Worldagroforestry.org. Retrieved 2013-12-10.
- ^ Staples, G. W. & D. R. Herbst. 2005. A Tropical Garden Flora.
- ^ J Am Oil Chem Soc (2012) 89:891–896
- ^ "Sterculia foetida L. - Checklist View". Gbif.org. Retrieved 2013-12-10.
| License | http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/ |
| Rights holder/Author | Wikipedia |
| Source | http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Sterculia_foetida&oldid=646132113 |
Habit: Tree