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Thespesia populnea

Authority	(L.) Correa
Family	Magnoliopsida:Dilleniidae:Malvales:Malvaceae
Synonyms	Hibiscus bacciferus J.G. Forster, Hibiscus populneoides Roxb., Hibiscus populneus L., Malvaviscus populneus (L.) Gaertn., Thespesia macrophylla Blume, Thespesia populneoides (Roxb.) Kostel.
Common names	alamo, alamo blanco, baëhs sâmut, baru baru, baru laut, carana, chréi sâmut, clamour, cork tree, duartiana, emajaguilla, feuilles d'Haiti, fey dayiti, gajadanda, gran maho, grand mahaut, gros mahaut, gwo maho, higuillo, Indian tulip tree, jaqueca, John-Bull tree, large-leaved tulip tree, mahot, majaguilla, majugua de la Florida, mangrove, milo, motel debou, Pacific rosewood, palo de jaqueca, paras-pipal, parsipu, pho-thale, portia tree, porush, seaside mahoe, waru laut
Editor
Ecocrop code	2075

Notes
DESCRIPTION: It is an evergreen shrub or medium-sized tree, up to 20 m tall with dense crown. Bark greyish. Leaves alternate, simple, 7-23 x 5-16 cm. Flowers pale yellow with dark purple centre. USE: Young flower buds and leaves are edible and leaves are also used as fodder. The bark yields fibre and wood is used for smaller implements. Wood, fruits and flowers yields dye and the bark tannin. The heartwood has a healing property useful in treating pleurisy and cholera, colic and high fevers; it is carminative. The cooked fruit crushed in coconut oil provides a salve, which, if applied to the hair, will kill lice. The sap of the leaves and decoctions of most parts of the plant are used externally to treat various skin diseases. Juices from the pounded fruits mixed with pounded leaves are ingredients of a poultice to treat headaches and itches. A decoction of the astringent bark is used to treat dysentery and haemorrhoids, and a maceration of it is drunk for colds. The fruit contains an antibiotic and the juice is used to treat herpes. Other extracts of the plant have significant antimalarial activity. Leaf and bark decoctions are taken for high blood pressure. Leaf tea is taken for rheumatism and urinary retention. Seeds are purgative. The tree is used for erosion control under saline conditions and planted as an ornamental. Wood chips and leaves are used as green manure. GROWING PERIOD: Perennial. COMMON NAMES: Indian tulip tree. FURTHER INF: It is pantropic along sandy sea coasts. The species can also be found on rocky coasts such as in Malaysia. It is only sparingly found on the inland edge of mangrove of persisting from cultivation. It is a suitable tree for dry locations and is highly tolerant of saline conditions. Soils are sandy, slightly alkaline and poor in nutrients.
Sources
SOURCE: ICRAF Agroforestree Database (10.05.02) E2075