''Hydnocarpus castaneus'' is an Asian tree species in the family
Achariaceae. It is now accepted that ''Hydnocarpus anthelminthicus'' is a synonym
Plants of the World Online (retrieved 29 November 2020)
/ref> and its native range is from Burma
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 Wells explai ...
, the rest of 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 ...
through to W. Malesia
Malesia is a biogeographical region straddling the Equator and the boundaries of the Indomalayan and Australasian realms, and also a phytogeographical floristic region in the Paleotropical Kingdom. It has been given different definitions. The ...
;[Plants of the World Online: ''Hydnocarpus castaneus'' Hook.f. & Thomson (retrieved 11 June 2020)]
/ref> this species is now also cultivated in southern China.[Flora of China: ''Hydnocarpus anthelminthicus'' (retrieved 12 June 2020]
/ref>
Description
This tree species grows to between 10 and 20 m with coriaceous, glabrous leaves 150–300 mm long. The spherical fruits are velvety and brown-black, with a diameter of 70–150 mm and containing 30–50 fleshy 15-20mm seeds.[Phạm Hoàng Hộ (1999) ''Cây Cỏ Việt Nam: an Illustrated Flora of Vietnam'' vol. I (entry: 2156) publ. Nhà Xuẩt Bản Trẻ, HCMC, VN.]
Traditional medicine
Also widely known under its name ''H. anthelminthicus'', suggesting anthelmintic properties, the Vietnamese is ''lọ nồi''[ (sometimes ''Ðại phong tử''). It is one of the ]50 fundamental herbs
Chinese herbology () is the theory of traditional Chinese herbal therapy, which accounts for the majority of treatments in traditional Chinese medicine (TCM). A ''Nature'' editorial described TCM as "fraught with pseudoscience", and said that t ...
used in traditional Chinese medicine
Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) is an alternative medical practice drawn from traditional medicine in China. It has been described as "fraught with pseudoscience", with the majority of its treatments having no logical mechanism of action ...
, where it may be called ''dà fēng zǐ'' 大 风 子 or 泰国大风子 ''tai guo da feng zi''.[
]
References
External links
''Hydnocarpus anthelminthicus'' (Google Images)
*
{{Taxonbar, from=Q17565338, from2=Q5954066
Hydnocarpus
Plants used in traditional Chinese medicine
Flora of Indo-China
Taxa named by Joseph Dalton Hooker
Taxa named by Thomas Thomson (botanist)