Skip to main content

False ashoka (Monoon longifolium)

Dlium False ashoka (Monoon longifolium)

False ashoka (Monoon longifolium) is a plant species in the Annonaceae, a small tree, evergreen, up to more than 20 meters high, symmetrical pyramidal with pendulous branches, hardwood, easy to grow and very adaptive.

M. longifolium has long narrow lanceolate leaves with wavy edges, 25 cm long, 6 cm wide, copper brown pigmentation but over time becomes bright green and finally dark green.



Pale green flowers resemble delicate stars. The flowering period is usually 2-3 weeks. Fruits in 10-20 pieces, round, up to 2 cm wide, green but turn purple or black when ripe.

Trees are used to filter air pollution. Leaves are used for decorative decoration during festivals. Trees are easily pruned into various shapes and maintained in the required size. Flexible, straight and light rods are used in making sailing ship masts. Wood for making pencils, boxes and matches. Seed oil has anti-oxidant, anti-lipooxygenase and antimicrobial activity.

TAXON

Kingdom: Plantae
Phylum: Tracheophyta
Subphylum: Angiospermae
Class: Magnoliopsida
Order: Magnoliales
Family: Annonaceae
Subfamily: Malmeoideae
Tribe: Miliuseae
Genus: Monoon Miq. in Ann. Mus. Bot. Lugduno-Batavi 2: 15 (1865)
Species: Monoon longifolium (Sonn.) B.Xue & R.M.K.Saunders in Taxon 61: 1032 (2012)

HOMOTYPIC SYNONYMS

Guatteria longifolia (Sonn.) Wall. in Numer. List: n.° 6442 (1832)
Polyalthia longifolia (Sonn.) Benth. & Hook.f. ex Thwaites in Enum. Pl. Zeyl.: 398 (1864)
Unona altissima Russell ex Wall. in Numer. List: n.° 6442 (1832)
Unona longifolia (Sonn.) Dunal in Monogr. Anonac.: 109 (1817)
Uvaria altissima Pennant in Outlin. Globe 1: 83 (1798)
Uvaria longifolia Sonn. in Voy. Indes Orient., ed. 2, 3: 260 (1782)

HETEROTYPIC SYNONYMS

Polyalthia longifolia var. pendula Benthall in Trees Calcutta: xliii, 11 (1946)

PUBLICATIONS

Balkrishna, A. (2018). Flora of Morni Hills (Research & Possibilities): 1-581. Divya Yoga Mandir Trust.

Johnson, D.M. & Murray, N.A. (eds.) (2022). Flora of Thailand 16(1): 1-332. The Forest Herbarium, Royal Forest Department.

Turner, I.M. (2018). Annonaceae of the Asia-Pacific region: names types and distribution. Gardens' Bulletin Singapore 70: 409-744.

VERNACULAR NAME

Assamese: Umboi
Australia: Indian mast tree
Bengali: देबदारू
Chinese (Simplified): 长叶暗罗 - 垂枝暗罗 - 印度塔树
Chinese (Traditional): 印度塔樹 - 長葉暗羅
English: False ashoka, Indian mast tree, Glodokan Tiang, Buddha tree, Indian fir tree, Ashoka, Green champa, Mast tree, Telegraph pole tree
Finnish: Intiankoppipuu
Gujarati: આસોપાલવ
Hindi: अशोक Ashok
Indonesian: Glodogan Tiang
Japanese: マストツリー - レインツリー
Kannada: Madras ashoka, Ubbina, Kambada mara
Konkani: Asok
Malayalam: Ashokam, Ashvattam, Hemapushpam, Aranamaram, Cherunna, Choranna
Manipuri: Debdar
Marathi: Devdar, Dedbari
Nepali: अशोक Aśōka
Oria: Debadaru, Asupal
Russian: Полиалтия длиннолистная
Sanskrit: Ashoka, Putrajiva
Sinhala: වන්සුලම් - නෙත්තලිංගම් Vansulam
Slovak: mnoholiek dlholistý
Spanish: Árbol mástil, Pino Indu
Tamil: வன்சுலம் - நெற்றிலிங்கம் Vansulam, Nettilingam
Telugu: Devdaru, Nara maamidi
Thai: อโศกอินเดีย

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

Popular Posts

Sea almond (Terminalia catappa)

Ketapang or tropical almond or beach almond or talisay tree or umbrella tree or sea almond ( Terminalia catappa ) is a species of plant in the Combretaceae, a shady tree, fast growing, forming a multilevel canopy, often used as a shade tree in gardens and on roadsides. T. catappa grows large, up to 40 meters in height and up to 1.5 meters in trunk, shady canopy with branches that grow flat and terraced, young trees often look like pagodas while old and large trees often have aerial roots up to 3 meters. The leaves are scattered, mostly at the end of the twig, rounded egg upside down, 8-38 cm long, 5-19 cm wide, the tip is wide, the base is narrow, the upper surface is smooth, green but turns red if to fall out and short stalks. The flowers are small, collected near the tips of the twigs, 8-25 cm long and green-yellow in color. The flowers are not crowned, the petals have five taju, are plate or bell shaped, 4-8 mm long and are white or cream in color. Stamens in two circles and arra...
Read more

Asian foxtail (Uraria crinita)

Asian foxtail or cat's tail bean ( Uraria crinita ) is a species of plant in Fabaceae, a perennial, upright shrub with woody stems at least at the base, up to 2 meters high in forests, agricultural land, waterways, used as a medicinal herb, green manure and sometimes planted in the garden as an ornamental plant. U. crinita has elongated leaves, rounded base, pointed tip, a bone in the middle with several pinnate veins, rough surface, dark green with white spots. Petiole short or less than 0.5 cm and brownish red. Compound flower in spike shape, purple and white triangular crown. Long flower stalk, erect, 15-20 cm long and only at the end of the flower. The crown slowly falls off and leaves behind a stalk that is shaped like coir or light yellow pads. Asian foxtail grows in dry grasslands, open forests, trash cans, roadsides, sandy areas and sometimes in deciduous forests, elevations of 0-1500 meters and does not grow in waterlogged places. The different parts are often used in t...
Read more

Kunu buti (Mesosphaerum suaveolens)

Kunu buti ( Mesosphaerum suaveolens ) is a species of plant in the Lamiaceae family. It is an erect, herbaceous annual, growing up to 1.5 meters tall. Its cylindrical, rough, brown or green stem is hairy and white. It grows on forest floors, bushes, agricultural fields, and roadsides. Its roots are fibrous and brownish-yellow. M. suaveolens has single, opposite leaves, stalks 2-5 cm long and hairy. The leaf blades are green, hairy, oval, with pointed tips, blunt bases, serrated edges, up to 6 cm long, up to 5 cm wide, and pinnate veins. The flowers are compound, axillary, in clusters, perfect, and bisexual. The petals are attached, forming a tube, each tip elongated like a spine, soft, 3-10 mm long, and green. The corolla is attached, asymmetrically detached, 1-2 cm long, and purple. The fruit is single, hard, capsule-shaped, hairy on the surface, and green or brown in color. The seeds are round, small and blackish brown in color. TAXON Kingdom: Plantae Phylum: Tracheophyta Subphyl...
Read more