Skip to main content

Fukien tea tree (Ehretia microphylla)

Dlium Fukien tea tree (Ehretia microphylla)

Serut pagar or hokiantie or Philippine tea tree or Fukien tea tree (Ehretia microphylla) is a plant species in the Boraginaceae, a shrub that grows up to 4 meters high, woody stems with long, drooping and slender branches.

E. microphylla usually has leaves 10-50 mm long, 5-30 mm wide and can vary in size, texture, color and margins. The small flowers are white, 8-10 mm in diameter and the corolla has 4-5 lobes. The fruit contains seeds, 4-6 mm in diameter and ripens orange-brown.



Seeds are dispersed by fruit-eating birds. It grows in clumps and semi-evergreen vines, prefers dry sites and occasionally occurs in rainforests. The leaves are used to treat coughs, colic, diarrhea and dysentery.

TAXON

Kingdom: Plantae
Phylum: Tracheophyta
Subphylum: Angiospermae
Class: Magnoliopsida
Order: Boraginales
Family: Boraginaceae
Subfamily: Ehretioideae
Genus: Ehretia P.Browne in Civ. Nat. Hist. Jamaica: 168 (1756)
Species: Ehretia microphylla Lam. in Tabl. Encycl. 1: 425 (1792)

HOMOTYPIC SYNONYMS

Carmona microphylla (Lam.) G.Don in Gen. Hist. 4: 391 (1837)
Ehretia buxifolia var. microphylla (Lam.) DC. in Prodr. 9: 509 (1845), nom. superfl.

HETEROTYPIC SYNONYMS

Carmona heterophylla Cav. in Icon. 5: 22 (1799)
Carmona retusa (Vahl) Masam. in Trans. Nat. Hist. Soc. Formosa 30: 61 (1940)
Cordia coromandeliana Retz. ex A.DC. in A.P.de Candolle, Prodr. 9: 509 (1845)
Cordia retusa Vahl in Symb. Bot. 2: 42 (1791)
Ehretia buxifolia Roxb. in Pl. Coromandel 1: 42 (1796)
Ehretia buxifolia var. heterophylla (Cav.) Gagnep. in H.Lecomte (ed.), Fl. Indo-Chine 4(2): 207 (1914)
Ehretia coromandeliana Retz. ex DC. in Prodr. 9: 509 (1845)
Ehretia dentata Courchet ex Gagnep. in Notul. Syst. (Paris) 3: 35 (1914)
Ehretia heterophylla Spreng. in Syst. Veg., ed. 16. 1: 648 (1824)
Ehretia monopyrena Gottschling & Hilger in Bot. Jahrb. Syst. 123: 263 (2001)
Lithothamnus buxioides Zipp. ex Span. in Linnaea 15: 334 (1841)

PUBLICATIONS

Govaerts, R. (2001). World Checklist of Seed Plants Database in ACCESS Genera starting with letter E-F: 1-50919.

Whistler, W.A. (2022). Flora of Samoa Flowering Plants: 1-930. National Tropical Botanicl Garden. Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History.

VERNACULAR NAME

Chinese (simplified): 基及树 - 小叶厚壳树
Chinese (traditional): 滿福木 - 福建茶 - 福建茶 - 基及樹 - 小葉厚殼樹
English: Fukien tea tree, Philippine tea tree
Indonesian: Serut pagar, Hokianti, Hokiantie, Teh fukian, Teh pagar
Thai: ชาฮกเกี้ยน

Aryo Bandoro
Dlium TheDlium
Web: https://www.dlium.com
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@Dlium

Popular Posts

Cockspur coral tree (Erythrina crista-galli)

Velvet coral tree or cockspur coral tree ( Erythrina crista-galli ) is a species of plant in the Fabaceae family. It is a small tree, 5-8 meters tall, with a trunk circumference of about 50 cm, irregular branches, light wood, and fissured, soft, and light brown bark. The taproot is white. The leaves are ovate, with three strands, dark green and glossy on the upper surface, and pale green on the underside. The central lobe is up to 17 cm long and up to 11 cm wide. The left and right lobes are up to 15 cm long and up to 10 cm wide. The flowers are red, arranged in racemes, at the apex, pentameric, complete, and bilaterally symmetrical. The flowers are up to 6 cm long and 4 cm wide. The pods are long, containing about 8 seeds, green when young and turning brown as they mature. The seeds are ovate, flat, and brown. It grows well in lowlands up to an elevation of 1,500 meters, with an annual rainfall of 800-1,500 mm/year, and a temperature of 20-32°C. It thrives in well-drained soils, but...

Serrated pimpernel (Lindernia glandulifera)

Serrated pimpernel ( Lindernia glandulifera ) is a species of plant in the Linderniaceae family, erect, 8-9 cm long.and white roots. The stems are cylindrical or angular or curved inward. The stems green or dark red or reddish brown. The leaves are opposite, green or dark red or brown, oval or oblong, up to 3 cm long, up to 1 cm wide and serrated margins. The flowers are white and blue, 0.6-0.7 cm wide. This plant grows in colonies in karst areas, clay soils, and areas that are sometimes flooded. TAXON Kingdom: Plantae Phylum: Tracheophyta Subphylum: Angiospermae Class: Magnoliopsida Order: Lamiales Family: Linderniaceae Genus: Lindernia All. in Auct. Syn. Meth. Stirp. Hort. Regii Taur. 3: 178 (1766) Species: Lindernia glandulifera (Blume) Backer in Onkruidfl. Jav. Suikerrietgr.: 616 (1930) VERNACULAR NAME English: Serrated pimpernel Indonesia: Tapak gergaji Java: Tapak graji Aryo Bandoro Dlium TheDlium Web: https://www.dlium.com YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@Dlium

Tanglehead (Heteropogon contortus)

Tanglehead ( Heteropogon contortus ) is a species of Poaceae, an erect grass, up to 65 cm tall, with leaves up to 13 cm long and 0.5 cm wide. The inflorescence is at the top and hairy. The tip is black. This plant forms dense colonies in forests, agricultural lands, roadsides, and abandoned areas. TAXON : Kingdom: Plantae Phylum: Tracheophyta Subphylum: Angiospermae Class: Liliopsida Order: Poales Family: Poaceae Subfamily: Panicoideae Tribe: Andropogoneae Subtribe: Anthistiriinae Genus: Heteropogon Pers. in Syn. Pl. 2: 533 (1807) Species: Heteropogon contortus (L.) P.Beauv. in J.J.Roemer & J.A.Schultes, Syst. Veg., ed. 15[bis]. 2: 836 (1817) HOMOTYPIC SYNONYMS : Andropogon contortus L. in Sp. Pl.: 1045 (1753) Heteropogon contortus var. hirtus Hack. in C.F.P.von Martius & auct. suc. (eds.), Fl. Bras. 2(3): 267 (1883) Heteropogon hirtus Pers. (1807) Holcus contortus (L.) Stuck. in Anales Mus. Nac. Buenos Aires, ser. 3, 4: 48 (1904) Sorghum contortum (L.) Kuntze in Revis. Gen. ...