''Haplophragma sulfureum'' is a tree in the Bignoniaceae family, found in four countries of Southeast Asia. The pods are used as tinder, while the wood is used for light construction and traditional medicine.

Description

The species grows as a 8 to 20m tall tree. It possesses long "sword-shaped" seed pods.

Diameter In geometry, a diameter of a circle is any straight line segment that passes through the center of the circle and whose endpoints lie on the circle. It can also be defined as the longest chord of the circle. Both definitions are also valid for ...

of the trunk measured at the standard breast height is 10.4 cm for a 6.6m tall specimen. The root system grows some 60 to 70 cm deep. The wood density is some 5.21g cm⁻³. The wood anatomy of the tree is consistent with the variety of traits in the Bignoniaceae. In ''Heterophragma sulfureum'' the following traits are present: diffuse solitary vessels; parenchyma marking growth rings; simple perforation plates; scanty paratracheal axial parenchyma; parenchyma are 3-4 cells per strand, 2-4-seriate short rays (<1mm), homo-heterocellular with 1 row of upright marginal cells; the vessel-ray pitting is similar to intervessel pits; septate fibres are present; crystals are present in rays.

Distribution

The species is found in the following countries of Southeast Asia:

Thailand Thailand ( ), historically known as Siam () and officially the Kingdom of Thailand, is a country in Southeast Asia, located at the centre of the Indochinese Peninsula, spanning , with a population of almost 70 million. The country is bo ...

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 ...

Laos Laos (, ''Lāo'' )), officially the Lao People's Democratic Republic ( Lao: ສາທາລະນະລັດ ປະຊາທິປະໄຕ ປະຊາຊົນລາວ, French: République démocratique populaire lao), is a socialist ...

Myanmar Myanmar, ; UK pronunciations: US pronunciations incl. . Note: Wikipedia's IPA conventions require indicating /r/ even in British English although only some British English speakers pronounce r at the end of syllables. As John C. Wells, Joh ...

Habitat

The plant grows within dry deciduous forests, in undergrowth and in savannahs. In the dry deciduous forests of central Cambodia, it is found in the subcanopy.

Ecology

'' Newinia heterophragmae'', a rust fungus in the

Phakopsoraceae The Phakopsoraceae are a family of rust fungi in the order Pucciniales Rusts are plant diseases caused by pathogenic fungi of the order Pucciniales (previously known as Uredinales). An estimated 168 rust genera and approximately 7,000 species, ...

family is found on the ''Heterophragma sulfureum'' in Myanmar.

Vernacular names

''Rungrang'' is a local name used in Thailand. In Cambodia the tree is known as ''srâom daw krâpë'' (="crocodile scabbard") or ''srâ âm'', Khmer.

Uses

The long seed-pods are dried and de-seeded before being used as tinder for fire-lighting in Cambodia, and the wood is used to build huts. The traditional healers gathering plants in the Polsongkram Community Forest, Non Sung District, eastern Thailand, boil the heartwood in water to produce a treatment for diabetes.

History

The species was first described by the German-born botanist, Wilhelm Sulpiz Kurz, (1834-1878). His working life including being director of the Botanical Gardens at Bogor, Jawa, and curator of the

Herbarium A herbarium (plural: herbaria) is a collection of preserved plant specimens and associated data used for scientific study. The specimens may be whole plants or plant parts; these will usually be in dried form mounted on a sheet of paper (called ...

at then

Calcutta Kolkata (, or , ; also known as Calcutta , List of renamed places in India#West Bengal, the official name until 2001) is the Capital city, capital of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of West Bengal, on the eastern ba ...

, India. He published the description in an 1873 issue of the ''Journal of the

Asiatic Society of Bengal The Asiatic Society is a government of India organisation founded during the Company rule in India to enhance and further the cause of "Oriental research", in this case, research into India and the surrounding regions. It was founded by the p ...

''.