Alstonia

Life-forms

Classification System: APG IV

Superregnum: Eukaryota
Regnum: Plantae
Cladus: Angiosperms
Cladus: Eudicots
Cladus: Core eudicots
Cladus: Asterids
Cladus: Lamiids
Ordo: Gentianales

Familia: Apocynaceae
Subfamilia: Rauvolfioideae
Tribus: Alstonieae
Genus: Alstonia
Species: A. actinophylla – A. angustifolia – A. angustiloba – A. annamensis – A. balansae – A. beatricis – A. boonei – A. boulindaensis – A. breviloba – A. congensis – A. constricta – A. coriacea – A. costata – A. curtisii – A. deplanchei – A. guanxiensis – A. iwahigensis – A. lanceolata – A. lanceolifera – A. legouixiae – A. lenormandii – A. longifolia – A. macrophylla – A. mairei – A. muelleriana – A. neriifolia – A. odontophora – A. parkinsonii – A. parvifolia – A. penangiana – A. pneumatophora – A. quaternata – A. rostrata – A. rubiginosa – A. rupestris – A. scholaris – A. sebusi – A. spatulata – A. spectabilis – A. sphaerocapitata – A. venenata – A. vieillardii – A. vietnamensis – A. yunnanensis
Source(s) of checklist:

Govaerts, R. et al. 2020. Alstonia R.Br. in Kew Science Plants of the World online. The Board of Trustees of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Published online. Accessed: 2020 Nov 23. Reference page.

Name

Alstonia R.Br., On Asclepiad. 64. (1810), nom. cons.

Typus: Alstonia scholaris (L.) R.Br., Asclepiadeae: 64 (1810), typ. cons.

Synonyms

Heterotypic
Pala Juss., Ann. Mus. Hist. Nat. 15: 346 (1810)
Blaberopus A.DC. in A.P.de Candolle, Prodr. 8: 410. (1844)
Type species: non design.
Winchia A.DC. in A.P.de Candolle, Prodr. 8: 326 (1844)
Amblyocalyx Benth. in G.Bentham & J.D.Hooker, Gen. Pl. 2: 698 (1876)
Tonduzia Pittier, Contr. U.S. Natl. Herb. 12: 103 (1908) See this taxon page for an alternate circumscription of Tonduzia longifolia, Tonduziinae (Vinceae).
Paladelpha Pichon, Bull. Mus. Natl. Hist. Nat., sér. 2, 19: 299 (1947)

Homonyms

Alstonia Scop., Intr. Hist. Nat. 198. (1777) (Apocynaceae) nom. rej.
Alstonia Mutis ex L., Suppl. Pl. 39, 264. (1782) (Symplocaceae Desf.) nom. illeg. hom.)

References

Brown, R. 1810. On the Asclepiadeae 64–65. 64.
Govaerts, R. et al. 2017. Alstonia in World Checklist of Selected Plant Families. The Board of Trustees of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Published online. Accessed: 2017 Oct. 10. Reference page.
International Plant Names Index. 2017. Alstonia. Published online. Accessed: Oct. 10 2017.
Monachino J. 1949. A revision of the genus Alstonia (Apocynaceae). Pac. Sci. 3(2): 133–182.
Tropicos.org 2017. Alstonia. Missouri Botanical Garden. Published online. Accessed: 10 Oct. 2017.

Vernacular names
suomi: Saitanpuut
Tiếng Việt: Chi Hoa sữa

Alstonia is a widespread genus of evergreen trees and shrubs, of the family Apocynaceae. It was named by Robert Brown in 1811, after Charles Alston (1685–1760), professor of botany at Edinburgh from 1716 to 1760.

The type species Alstonia scholaris (L.) R.Br. was originally named Echites scholaris by Linnaeus in 1767.

Description

Alstonia consists of about 40–60 species (according to different authors) native to tropical and subtropical Africa, Central America, Southeast Asia, Polynesia and Australia, with most species in the Malesian region.

These trees can grow very large, such as Alstonia pneumatophora, recorded with a height of 60 m and a diameter of more than 2 m. Alstonia longifolia is the only species growing in Central America (mainly shrubs, but also trees 20 m high).

The leathery, sessile, simple leaves are elliptical, ovate, linear or lanceolate and wedge-shaped at the base. The leaf blade is dorsiventral, medium-sized to large and disposed oppositely or in a whorl and with entire margin. The leaf venation is pinnate, with numerous veins ending in a marginal vein. Phyllotaxy is whorled i.e. two or more leaves arises at a node and form a whorl .

The inflorescence is terminal or axillary, consisting of thyrsiform cymes or compound umbels. The small, more or less fragrant flowers are white, yellow, pink or green and funnel-shaped, growing on a pedicel and subtended by bracts. They consist of 5 petals and 5 sepals, arranged in four whorls. The fertile flowers are hermaphrodite. The gamosepalous green sepals consist of ovate lobes, and are distributed in one whorl. The annular disk is hypogynous. The five gamesepalous petals have oblong or ovate lobes and are disposed in one whorl. The corolla lobes overlapping to the left (such as A. rostrata) or to the right (such as A. macrophylla) in the bud. The ovary has 2 separate follicles with glabrous or ciliate, oblong seeds that develop into deep blue podlike, schizocarp fruit, between 7–40 cm long. The plants contain a milky latex, rich in poisonous alkaloids. The Alstonia macrophylla is commonly known in Sri Lanka as 'Havari nuga' or the 'wig banyan' because of its distinct flower that looks like a woman's long wig.

Alstonia trees are used in traditional medicine. The bark of the Alstonia constricta and the Alstonia scholaris is a source of a remedy against malaria, toothache, rheumatism and snake bites . The latex is used in treating coughs, throat sores and fever.

Many Alstonia species are harvested for timber, called pule or pulai in, Indonesia and Malaysia. Trees from the section Alstonia produce lightwweight timber, while those from the sections Monuraspermum and Dissuraspermum produce heavy timber.

Alstonia trees are widespread and mostly not endangered. However a few species are very rare, such as A. annamensis, A. beatricis, A. breviloba, A. stenophylla and A. guangxiensis.
Species

Alstonia has five distinct sections, each a monophyletic group; Alstonia, Blaberopus, Tonduzia, Monuraspermum, Dissuraspermum.

Accepted species[1]

Alstonia actinophylla (A.Cunn.) K.Schum. – milkwood - New Guinea, N Australia
Alstonia angustifolia A.DC. - Borneo, W Malaysia, Sumatra
Alstonia angustiloba Miq. - Borneo, W Malaysia, Sumatra, Thailand, Java
Alstonia annamensis (Monach.) K.Sidiyasa - Cambodia, Vietnam
Alstonia balansae Guillaumin - New Caledonia
Alstonia beatricis K.Sidiyasa - Waigeo I in E, Indonesia
Alstonia boonei De Wild. - W + C + E Africa
Alstonia boulindaensis Boiteau - New Caledonia
Alstonia breviloba K.Sidiyasa - Papua New Guinea
Alstonia congensis Engl. - W + C Africa
Alstonia constricta F.Muell. – bitterbark, quinine tree, Australian fever bark - E Australia
Alstonia coriacea Pancher & S.Moore - New Caledonia
Alstonia costata R.Br. - S Pacific
Alstonia curtisii King & Gamble - Thailand
Alstonia deplanchei Van Heurck & Müll.Arg. - New Caledonia
Alstonia guangxiensis D.Fang & X.X.Chen - Guangxi in China
Alstonia iwahigensis Elmer - Borneo, Palawan
Alstonia lanceolata Van Heurck & Müll.Arg. - New Caledonia
Alstonia lanceolifera S.Moore - New Caledonia
Alstonia legouixiae Van Heurck & Müll.Arg. - New Caledonia
Alstonia lenormandii Van Heurck & Müll.Arg. - New Caledonia
Alstonia longifolia (A.DC.) Pichon - Mexico, Central America
Alstonia macrophylla Wall. ex G.Don – batino, devil tree - S China, Sri Lanka, SE Asia, New Guinea
Alstonia mairei H. Léveillé - S China, N Vietnam
Alstonia muelleriana Domin – jackapple, leatherjacket, milky yellowwood - New Guinea, Queensland
Alstonia neriifolia D.Don - Nepal, Sikkim, Bhutan
Alstonia odontophora Boiteau - New Caledonia
Alstonia parkinsonii (M.Gangop. & Chakrab.) Lakra & Chakrab. - Andaman Is.
Alstonia parvifolia Merr. - Philippines
Alstonia penangiana K.Sidiyasa - Penang Hill in Malaysia
Alstonia pneumatophora Backer ex L.G.Den Berger - W Malaysia, Borneo, Sulawesi, Sumatra
Alstonia quaternata Van Heurck & Müll.Arg. - New Caledonia
Alstonia rostrata C.E.C.Fischer - Yunnan, Indochina, W Malaysia, Sumatra
Alstonia rubiginosa K.Sidiyasa - Papua New Guinea
Alstonia rupestris Kerr - Thailand
Alstonia scholaris (L.) R.Br. – pali-mari, dita bark, bitter bark, milkwood, milky bean, milky pine, white cheesewood, scholar tree, blackboard tree - E + S + SE Asia, Papuasia, N Australia
Alstonia sebusi (Van Heurck & Müll.Arg.) Monach. - Yunnan, Bhutan, Assam, N Myanmar
Alstonia spatulata Blume – hard milkwood, Siamese balsa - SE Asia, New Guinea
Alstonia spectabilis R.Br. – poele bark, jackapple, leatherjacket, milky yellowwood - SE Asia, Papuasia, N Australia
Alstonia sphaerocapitata Boiteau - New Caledonia
Alstonia venenata R.Br. - S India
Alstonia vieillardii Van Heurck & Müll.Arg. - New Caledonia
Alstonia vietnamensis D.J.Middleton - Vietnam
Alstonia yunnanensis Diels - Yunnan, Guizhou, Guangxi

Gallery

Alstonia scholaris

Alstonia spectabilis

Alstonia macrophylla

Notes

"World Checklist of Selected Plant Families". Retrieved May 21, 2014.

References

Kade Sidiyasa (1998). "Taxonomy, phylogeny, and wood anatomy of Alstonia (Apocynaceae)". Blumea. Supplement. 11: 1–230. ISBN 90-71236-35-8
Kade Sidiyasa, A., 3, 1992. A monograph of Alstonia (Apocynaceae).
Forster, P.I. (1992). "A taxonomic revision of Alstonia (Apocynaceae) in Australia". Australian Systematic Botany. 5 (6): 745. doi:10.1071/SB9920745. ISSN 1030-1887.