''Alstonia macrophylla'', the hard alstonia, hard milkwood or big-leaved macrophyllum, is a species of

plant Plants are predominantly photosynthetic eukaryotes of the kingdom Plantae. Historically, the plant kingdom encompassed all living things that were not animals, and included algae and fungi; however, all current definitions of Plantae exclu ...

in the family

Apocynaceae Apocynaceae (from ''Apocynum'', Greek for "dog-away") is a family of flowering plants that includes trees, shrubs, herbs, stem succulents, and vines, commonly known as the dogbane family, because some taxa were used as dog poison Members of ...

Distribution

It is native to

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 ...

(Kalimantan and Sulawesi),

Malaysia Malaysia ( ; ) is a country in Southeast Asia. The federation, federal constitutional monarchy consists of States and federal territories of Malaysia, thirteen states and three federal territories, separated by the South China Sea into two r ...

, the

Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...

( Tagalog: ''batino''),

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 b ...

, and

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 was introduced to Sri Lanka, where it is known as ''hawari nuga'' by local Sinhalese people.

Description

Alstonia macrophylla is a tree with a straight trunk and a high, narrow crown. It can grow up to 30 meters tall. The trunk and branches contain a white latex. The bark is smooth and has a light grey color. Leaves are in whorls of three to four, simple, penni-veined, membranous, and glabrous above. Leaf-blades are 10 to 50 centimeters long, 5 to 15 cm wide, widest in or above the middle, and cuneate at the base. Flowers are about 7 mm in diameter, white, with narrow corolla tube, placed terminal on twigs. Fruits are about 30 centimeters long, green and filled with many small hairy seeds that are dispersed far and wide by the wind. The heartwood is yellowish, with a straight and shallowly interlocked grain with a moderately fine to rather coarse texture.”Alstonia macrophylla” in ”Flora of Sri Lanka” at http://www.botanicgardens.gov.lk/herbarium/index.php?option=com_sobi2&catid=1819&Itemid=90 . ”Alstonia macrophylla” at Globin-Med at http://www.globinmed.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=99642:alstonia-macrophylla-wallich-ex-g-don&catid=8&Itemid=113 and ”Alstonia_macrophylla” at Asianplant.net at http://www.asianplant.net/Apocynaceae/Alstonia_macrophylla.htm

Natural habitat

Grows in a wide range of habits. Undisturbed and disturbed areas from sea-level up to 2900 meters altitude. Grows near the coast behind mangrove forests and in mixed dipterocarp forests. Usually grows on ridges and hillsides with sandy to clayey soils. It also grows in ultrabasic and limestone soils.

Uses

The timber is of superior quality to that of '' Alstonia scholaris'' and less liable to attack by boring insects. It is used for making roof beams, frames, poles and toys. Being a quick growing tree that grows in a wide range of habitats and soils, it has been used for reforestation in Sri Lanka.

Invasive species

In Sri Lanka, where it is called "havari nuga", it has been used for reforestation due to its fast growth rate and is now a widely spread invasive species in the wet zone. It mostly grows as a pioneer tree in disturbed forest areas.Lalith Gunasekera, ''Invasive Plants: A guide to the identification of the most invasive plants of Sri Lanka'', Colombo 2009. ”Alstonia macrophylla” in ”Flora of Sri Lanka” at http://www.botanicgardens.gov.lk/herbarium/index.php?option=com_sobi2&catid=1819&Itemid=90 Image:Batino (Alstonia macrophylla) trunk at Hyderabad, AP W 279.jpg, Trunk in

Hyderabad, India Hyderabad ( ; , ) is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Telangana and the '' de jure'' capital of Andhra Pradesh. It occupies on the Deccan Plateau along the banks of the Musi River, in the northern part of Southern In ...

. Image:Batino (Alstonia macrophylla) tree with fruits at Hyderabad, AP W 277.jpg, Tree with fruits in

. Image:Batino (Alstonia macrophylla) tree at Hyderabad, AP W 278.jpg, Tree in

. File:Alstonia macrophylla (Batino) in Hyderabad W IMG 7138.jpg, Leaves in

. File:Alstonia macrophylla (Batino) in Hyderabad W IMG 7136.jpg, Fruit in

. File:Alstonia macrophylla (Batino) in Hyderabad W IMG 7135.jpg, Trunk in

. File:Alstonia macrophylla (Batino) in Hyderabad W IMG 9006.jpg, Flowers in

. File:Alstonia macrophylla (Batino) in Hyderabad W IMG 9005.jpg, Flowers in

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q1944104 macrophylla Least concern plants Invasive plant species in Sri Lanka Taxonomy articles created by Polbot