Pelonggot – Rhodamnia cinerea Jack

Rhodamnia cinerea Jack

Common Name: Silver Back Tree

Local Name: Pelonggot (Jakun), Mempoyan, Poyan, Empoyan, Tempoyai, Mengkoyan

Family: Myrtaceae

Description:

Growth Form: It is a small evergreen tree up to 15 m tall, with a dense, rounded crown.

Foliage: Its opposite, shortly-stalked leaves have leaf blades that are oblong, 5–15 by 1.8–7 cm, tapering at both ends, and sometimes with long tips. The leaf blades have 3 distinct longitudinal veins and characteristically silvery or grey undersides owing to the minute silky hairs. In some trees, the leaf blades are green below.

Flowers: Its flowers develop in stalked clusters of up to 6 at each leaf axil. The flowers are white with a reddish centre, very fragrant, and about 1 cm wide, each with 4 petals and sepals.

Fruits: Its 3–8-seeded fruits are small, round berries, silky, and up to 1 cm wide. They are green turning red, then purple and finally black when ripe. The top of the fruit is crowned by remnants of the sepals. Pale yellow, angular, hard seeds are embedded in the fleshy fruit pulp.

Habit: Tree

Habitat: It can be found natively from Tanintharyi region to Australia (including Singapore). But it is now distributed to Indochine (Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia) and Malaysia.

Conservation Status: Data Deficient

Ethnobotanical Uses:

Plant Part Used: Root

Preparation Method: Sap collected

Way of Administration: It can be orally consumed as a drink

Use to treat: It is used to treat fatigue and fever.

Reference

National Parks-Flora and Fauna Web (2013). Rhodamnia cinerea Jack. Retrieved on 25 May 2018. Available at https://florafaunaweb.nparks.gov.sg/special-pages/plant-detail.aspx?id=3102

The DNA of Singapore (2018). Retrieved on 25 May 2018. Available at https://lkcnhm.nus.edu.sg/dna/organisms/details/355