''Colona auriculata'' is a shrub species first described by

Desfontaines Desfontaines is a surname. Notable people with the surname include: * François-Georges Fouques Deshayes (known as Desfontaines-Lavallée or Desfontaines, 1733-1825), French writer and playwright. * Henri Desfontaines (1876-1931), French film dire ...

, with its current name after Craib; the genus '' Colona'' is in the family

Malvaceae Malvaceae, or the mallows, is a family of flowering plants estimated to contain 244 genera with 4225 known species. Well-known members of economic importance include okra, cotton, cacao and durian. There are also some genera containing familiar ...

and now placed in the subfamily

Grewioideae Grewioideae is a subfamily of the family Malvaceae and was first described by Hochreutiner. The group is named after its type genus, ''Grewia'', which is named for the English scientist Nehemiah Grew (1641-1712). It contains a number of genera ...

. No subspecies are listed in the Catalogue of Life. The species is distributed in

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guine ...

and throughout

Indochina Mainland Southeast Asia, also known as the Indochinese Peninsula or Indochina, is the continental portion of Southeast Asia. It lies east of the Indian subcontinent and south of Mainland China and is bordered by the Indian Ocean to the west an ...

; in

Vietnam Vietnam or Viet Nam ( vi, Việt Nam, ), officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam,., group="n" is a country in Southeast Asia, at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of and population of 96 million, making i ...

it is frequently found in the provinces of and between Dong Nai and

Ba Ria - Vung Tau BA, Ba, or ba may refer to: Businesses and organizations * Bangladesh Army * Bibliotheca Alexandrina, an Egyptian library and cultural center * Boeing (NYSE stock symbol BA) * Booksellers Association of the UK and Ireland * Boston Acoustics, an ...

its common name is ''bồ an''. The roots are used in

Cambodia Cambodia (; also Kampuchea ; km, កម្ពុជា, UNGEGN: ), officially the Kingdom of Cambodia, is a country located in the southern portion of the Indochinese Peninsula in Southeast Asia, spanning an area of , bordered by Thailand t ...

to make

antipyretic An antipyretic (, from ''anti-'' 'against' and ' 'feverish') is a substance that reduces fever. Antipyretics cause the hypothalamus to override a prostaglandin-induced increase in temperature. The body then works to lower the temperature, which r ...

herbal medicines.

Description

''Colona auriculata'' is a bushy plant typically 1-5m high, with trailing branches and irregular roots. Leaves are staggered, asymmetrical, densely pubescent on the underside (see illustration).

Flowers A flower, sometimes known as a bloom or blossom, is the reproductive structure found in flowering plants (plants of the division Angiospermae). The biological function of a flower is to facilitate reproduction, usually by providing a mechani ...

are variable: mostly yellow with red flecks on petals. Flowering is usually in June - August. The spherical pods are approximately 20 mm in diameter, typically with 5 lobes and contain many seeds.

References

Craib, 1925 '' In: ''Fl. Thailand. Enum.'' 188'' VN Creatures: Flora
/ref> Phạm Hoàng Hộ (1999) ''Cây Cỏ Việt Nam: an Illustrated Flora of Vietnam'' vol. I publ. Nhà Xuẩt Bản Trẻ, HCMC, VN {{Taxonbar, from=Q15362596 Grewioideae Flora of Vietnam