Skip to main content

Sandbox tree (Hura crepitans)

Dlium Sandbox tree (Hura crepitans)

Sandbox tree (Hura crepitans) is species in Euphorbiaceae, a tropical tree, growing up to 60 meters tall and with a trunk circumference of up to 13.2 meters, the trunk is covered with long and sharp thorns and exudes a poisonous sap.

H. crepitans has large, oval leaves, 15 cm wide and 20 cm long. The petioles are 22 cm long. The flowers are red and lack petals. Male flowers grow on long stalks, while female flowers grow singly in leaf axils.



The fruit is a large, flask-shaped capsule, up to 10 cm in diameter, with 12-16 radially arranged carpels. The seeds are flat and about 2 cm in diameter. The capsule bursts when ripe, dividing into segments and ejecting the seeds at a speed of 70 m/s, a distance of 30-100 meters.

This tree prefers moist soil and partial shade or partial to full sun, a warm, humid environment. It is often cultivated for shade.

The wood is light and used to make canoes. The sap is used to poison fish.

TAXON

Kingdom: Plantae
Phylum: Tracheophyta
Subphylum: Angiospermae
Class: Magnoliopsida
Order: Malpighiales
Family: Euphorbiaceae
Genus: Hura L. in Sp. Pl.: 1008 (1753)
Species: Hura crepitans L. in Sp. Pl.: 1008 (1753)

HOMOTYPIC SYNONYMS

Hura crepitans var. genuina Müll.Arg. in A.P.de Candolle, Prodr. 15(2): 1229 (1866), not validly publ.

HETEROTYPIC SYNONYMS

Hura brasiliensis Willd. in Enum. Pl. Hort. Berol.: 997 (1809)
Hura crepitans var. membranacea Müll.Arg. (1866)
Hura crepitans var. oblongifolia Müll.Arg. (1866)
Hura crepitans f. oblongifolia Müll.Arg. (1866)
Hura crepitans var. orbicularis Müll.Arg. (1866)
Hura crepitans f. orbicularis Müll.Arg. (1866)
Hura crepitans var. ovata Müll.Arg. (1866)
Hura crepitans f. ovata Müll.Arg. (1866)
Hura crepitans var. senegalensis (Baill.) Boiss. in A.P.de Candolle, Prodr. 15(2): 1230 (1866)
Hura crepitans var. strepens Müll.Arg. (1866)
Hura senegalensis Baill. in Recueil Observ. Bot. 1: 77 (1860)
Hura strepens Willd. (1809)

PUBLICATIONS

Acevedo-Rodríguez, P. & Strong, M.T. (2012). Catalogue of seed plants of the West Indies. Smithsonian Contributions to Botany 98: 1-1192.

Akoègninou, A., van der Burg, W.J. & van der Maesen, L.J.G. (eds.) (2006). Flore Analytique du Bénin: 1-1034. Backhuys Publishers.

Aung, Y.L., Aung, M.H., Tan, Y. & Jin, X. (2025). An updated checklist of vascular plants of Myanmar. PhytoKeys 261: 135-364.

Balakrishnan, N.P. & Chakrabarty, T. (2007). The family Euphorbiaceae in India. A synopsis of its profile, taxonomy and bibliography: 1-500. Bishen Singh Mahendra Pal Singh, Dehra Dun.

Catarino, L., Sampaio Martins, E., Pinto-Basto, M.F. & Diniz, M.A. (2006). Plantas Vasculares e Briófitos da Guiné-Bissau: 1-298. Instituto de investigação científica tropical, Instituto Português de apoio ao desenvolvimento.

Flora of North America Editorial Committee (2016). Flora of North America North of Mexico 12: 1-603. Oxford University Press, New York, Oxford.

Gosline, G., Bidault, E., van der Burgt, X., Cahen, D., Challen, G., Condé, N., Couch, C., Couvreur, T.L.P., Dagallier, L.M.J., Darbyshire, I., Dawson, S., Doré, T.S., Goyder, D., Grall, A., Haba, P., Haba, P., Harris, D., Hind, D.J.N., Jongkind, & al. (2023). A Taxonomically-verified and Vouchered Checklist of the Vascular Plants of the Republic of Guinea. Nature, scientific data 10, Article number: 327: [1]-[12].

Govaerts, R., Frodin, D.G. & Radcliffe-Smith, A. (2000). World Checklist and Bibliography of Euphorbiaceae (and Pandaceae) 1-4: 1-1622. The Board of Trustees of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.

Harris, D.J. (2002). The vascular plants of the Dzanga-Sangha Reserve, Central African Republic: 1-274. National Botanic Garden (Belgium), Meise.

Hokche, O., Berry, P.E. & Huber, O. (eds.) (2008). Nuevo Catálogo de la Flora Vascular de Venezuela: 1-859. Fundación Instituto Botánico de Venezuela.

Idárraga-Piedrahita, A., Ortiz, R.D.C., Callejas Posada, R. & Merello, M. (eds.) (2011). Flora de Antioquia: Catálogo de las Plantas Vasculares 2: 1-939. Universidad de Antioquia, Medellín.

Lejoy, J., Ndjele, M.-B. & Geerinck, D. (2010). Catalogue-flore des plantes vasculaires des districts de Kisangani et de la Tshopo (RD Congo). Taxonomania. Revue de Taxonomie et de Nomenclature Botaniques 30: 1-307.

Lisowski, S. (2009). Flore (Angiospermes) de la République de Guinée. Scripta Botanica Belgica 41: 1-517.

Molino, J.-F., Sabatier, D., Grenand, P., Engel, J., Frame, D., Delprete, P.G., Fleury, M., Odonne, G., Davy, D., Lucas, E.J. & Martin, C.A. (2022). An annotated checklist of the tree species of French Guiana, including vernacular nomenclature. Adansonia, sér. 3, 44: 345-903.

Nelson Sutherland, C.H. (2008). Catálogo de las plantes vasculares de Honduras. Espermatofitas: 1-1576. SERNA/Guaymuras, Tegucigalpa, Honduras.

Stevens, W.D., Ulloa U., C., Pool, A. & Montiel, O.M. (2001). Flora de Nicaragua. Monographs in Systematic Botany from the Missouri Botanical Garden 85: i-xlii, 1-2666. Missouri Botanical Garden.

de Oliveira, L. dos S.D., da Silva, M.J. & de Sales, M.F. (2013). Synopsis of the tribe Hureae (Euphorbioideae, Euphorbiaceae). Brittonia 65: 310-329.

van Welzen, P.C. & Chayamarit, K. (2007). Flora of Thailand 8(2): 305-592. The Forest Herbarium, National Park, Wildlife and Plant Conservation Department, Bangkok.

VERNACULAR NAME

Afrikaans: Sandstrooierboom
Bengali: চাকা গাছ Cākā gācha
Burmese: ဘီးသစ်ပင်
Chinese (simplified): 响盒子 - 沙盒树
Chinese (traditional): 沙盒樹
Czech: Hura chřestivá
Dutch: Zandkokerboom
English: Sandbox tree, Dynamite tree, Monkey-no-climb
Filipino: Puno ng gulong
Finnish: Lauttahurapuu
French: Sablier, Arbre au diable
German: Sandbüchsenbaum
Hindi: पहिया पेड़ Pahiya ped
Indonesian: Roda, Kalpataru, Huru, Kemiri cina, Buta-buta
Japanese: サルノトウナス - 砂箱の木
Java: Kuku macan
Kannada: Retidaani, Retidani
Khmer: ដើមឈើកង់
Lao: ຕົ້ນໄມ້ລໍ້
Malaysia: Pokok roda
Nepal: पाङ्ग्राको रूख Pāṅgrākō rūkha
Portuguese: Aceira, Acaçu, Açacu, Assacu, Assacuzeiro, Ussacu, Assacú
Russian: Хура трескающаяся
Sinhala: රෝද ගස Rōda gasa
Slovak: Hura rachotivá
Spanish: Acuapa, Javillo, Jabilla, Salvadera, Arenillo
Sunda: Ki Kasymir, Ki Semir
Tamil: சக்கர மரம் Cakkara maram
Telugu: Seema buruga
Thai: โพศรี
Vietnam: Cây bánh xe

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

Brazilian vervain (Verbena brasiliensis)

Brazilian vervain ( Verbena brasiliensis ) is a species of plant in the Verbenaceae, an annual shrub with erect stems, up to 1 meter high, triangular or semi-spherical in shape with sharp corners, green, white-haired, lower branches in an opposite arrangement, branches above grows in an irregular formation. V. brasiliensis has elongated leaves, up to 20 cm long, up to 4 cm wide, sharp tip, deeply serrated or flat margins, dark green in color, a main vein in the middle and whitish in color, several minor veins laterally, rough and stiff surface. Inflorescences in panicles at the end of a long stalk up to 5 cm long. The flower petals are 3 mm long, 5 lobed and tubular in shape. The corolla is formed from fused petals and spreads open at the tip, only slightly longer than the calyx. Flowers have reproductive organs of both sexes. Superior and bicarpellary ovaries. The fruit is a schizocarp or dried fruit that splits when ripe. Wrapped in petals. Nutlets are triangular in cross-sec...
Read more