Stixis obtusifolia explained

Stixis obtusifolia is a shrub or liana in the Resedaceae family. It is found in parts of Southeast Asia. The wood is used as fuel, the leaves as a tea.

Description

This species grows as a deciduous shrub or liana.^{[1] [2]} It has silvery stems and branches. Leaves are simple, the adult leaves are glabrous, though occasionally with a few hairs on the nerves.^[3] The gynophore is shorter than 5mm and hairy, the ovary is glabrous.

Flowering occurs from November to March, fruiting from January to April.^[2]

Distribution

This Southeast Asian species grows in the following countries: Cambodia, Laos, Thailand and Myanmar.^[4]

Habitat, ecology

The plant grows in degraded formations.^[1]

In the vegetation communities alongside the Mekong in Kratie and Steung Treng Provinces, Cambodia, this taxa is rare in the degraded areas of the riverine community.^[2] It grows on soils derived from metamorphic sandstone bedrock, at 20-25m altitude.

Vernacular names

Aw krâpë (av kraboe, ao krâpoeu) (aw="skin", krâpë="crocodile", Khmer) is a name used in Cambodia.^{[1] [5]}

Uses

The wood furnishes firewood.^[1] The leaves can give a tea-like drink

History

Henri Ernest Baillon (1827–95), a French botanist and physician, described the species in 1887 in the journal Bulletin Mensuel de la Société Linnéenne de Paris (Paris).^[6]

Further reading

• Dy Phon, P. (2000). Dictionnaire des plantes utilisées au Cambodge: 1-915. chez l'auteur, Phnom Penh, Cambodia.
• T. Smitinand & K. Larsen, eds. (1987). Flora of Thailand 5: 1-470. The Forest Herbarium, Royal Forest Department.

Notes and References

1. Book: Pauline Dy Phon . Plants Utilised In Cambodia/Plantes utilisées au Cambodge . 2000 . Imprimerie Olympic . Phnom Penh . 14, 15 . Pauline Dy Phon .
2. Maxwell . James F. . Vegetation and vascular flora of the Mekong River, Kratie and Steung Treng Provinces, Cambodia . Maejo International Journal of Science and Technology . 2009 . 3 . 1 . 143–211 . 4 February 2021 . 1905-7873.
3. Shen . Jian-Yong . Landrein . Sven . Wang . Wen-Guang . Ma . Xing-Da . Shi . Ji-Pu . Stixis villiflora, a new species of Resedaceae from Yunnan, China . Taiwania . 2020 . 65 . 1 . 10‒14 . 10.6165/tai.2020.65.10 . 4 February 2021.
4. Web site: Stixis obtusifolia (Hook.f. & Thomson) Baill. . Plants of the World Online (POWO) . Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew . 4 February 2021.
5. Lewitz . S. . Rollet . B. . Lexique des noms d'arbres et d'arbustes du Cambodge . Bulletin de l'École française d'Extrême-Orient . 1973 . 60 . 117–62 . 10.3406/befeo.1973.5144 . 23 April 2020.
6. Web site: Stixis obtusifolia Baill., Bull. Mens. Soc. Linn. Paris i. (1887) 654. . International Plant Name Index (IPNI) . The Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew . 4 February 2021.