Salacia miqueliana Loes., Nat. Pflanzenfam. [Engler & Prantl] 3, Abt. 5: 230 (1893)
Named after F.A.W Miquel [1811-1871], a German physician that later became director of the Leiden Herbarium (Netherlands).Synonyms
Salacia costata Miq. ex Pulle
Salacia macrophylla Blume
Salacia macrophylla Miq.
Thermophila macrophylla (Blume) Miers
Description
Liana. Stipules absent. Leaves opposite with very thick petioles, elliptic leaf shape. Flowers small (few mm diameter) and placed
in bundles in leaf axils, white-yellowish petals (5, free standing) placed around a reddish-orange disc. Fruits large (several cm)
round berries with five calyx lobes still present at base, green, containing several large seeds in pulp.
Ecology
Can be common in forest understoreys up to 900 m elevation, where it starts growing as an erect small tree, so often included in forest inventories as
a tree sapling. Eventually it will switch to a climbing habit.
Uses
Seems to have some antibacterial and antifungal properties.
Distribution
South America and tropical Asia from India and southern China (including Hainan) to Indonesia.
