Mallotus repandus facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Mallotus repandus |
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Mallotus (plant)
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repandus
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The Mallotus repandus is a cool plant that can grow in different ways. It's often a liana, which is like a woody vine that climbs up other plants or structures. Sometimes, it can also be a shrub, which is a smaller, bushy plant. This plant belongs to the Euphorbiaceae family, also known as the spurge family.
You can find Mallotus repandus in many places around the world. It grows naturally in warm, tropical, and sub-tropical parts of Asia. It's also found in Wallacea (an area in Indonesia), New Guinea, and even in Queensland, Australia, and New Caledonia.
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What Does It Look Like?
Mallotus repandus usually grows as a climbing vine (liana). It can also be a climbing shrub or just a regular shrub. This plant can reach heights or lengths of 5 to 10 meters (about 16 to 33 feet)! Sometimes, its stems can grow quite thick, up to 22 centimeters (about 8.7 inches) across.
It's pretty special because it's one of the only Mallotus species that grows as a liana. Most other plants in this group don't climb like this one.
The bark of the plant is a dark brownish-grey color. Its small branches, leaf stalks (called petioles), and flower clusters (called inflorescences) are a dull yellowish-brown. If you make a cut in the bark, it has a layered look and smells a bit like green peas.
The leaves are simple and wide. They are slightly "peltate," which means the leaf stalk attaches to the middle of the leaf, not just the edge. The flowers are yellowish. In China, this plant flowers from March to May and produces fruits from June to September.
You can tell Mallotus repandus apart from other Mallotus plants because it's a climber. Also, its upper leaves have more than two special glands near the edges that produce nectar (called extrafloral nectaries). Its fruits usually have two or three sections (called locules) inside.
Scientists have studied the plant's genes to understand its family tree. This study showed that M. repandus is a "sister species" to M. phillippensis. This means they are very closely related. The tiny hairs on the leaves of M. repandus are simple and made of many cells. This type of hair is only found in M. repandus and its close relative, M. philippensis, among the Mallotus plants.
Where It Lives
This climbing plant or shrub grows in many different places. You can find it scattered in the lower parts of forests, both old (primary) and new (secondary) ones. It also likes disturbed areas and scrublands.
It often grows at the edges of forests, near mangrove swamps, along roads and rivers, on ridges, and on steep slopes. It can even grow on dry ground! This plant is not picky about soil. It can grow on soils made from limestone or granite, on sandy loam, and even on rocky soils. You can find it from sea level all the way up to 1500 meters (about 4,900 feet) in altitude. It usually flowers and produces fruit all year round.
In Queensland, Australia, it grows in both low-lying and higher rainforests, from near sea level up to 750 meters (about 2,460 feet). In Southeast Asia, you'll often see it in areas where plants are regrowing or at the edges of thick forests. In China, it lives in thickets, forests, and their edges, as well as on hills and in mountain valleys below 100 meters.
Sometimes, a parasitic plant called Cuscuta japonica (also known as Japanese dodder) can harm Mallotus repandus. But it also provides food for a type of moth called Acrocercops zopherandra. It's also one of three Mallotus species that can host a fungus called Cercospora malloti.
Where You Can Find It
Mallotus repandus is found in many places across the world. It lives in:
- New Caledonia
- Queensland, Australia (including Cape York Peninsula, the northeast, and the southeast)
- New Guinea
- Lesser Sunda Islands
- Maluku
- Sulawesi
- Jawa
- Borneo
- Philippines
- Taiwan
- North-central, Southeast, and South-central Zhongguo/China (including many provinces like Guangxi, Hainan, Guangdong, Fujian, Zhejiang, Anhui, Henan, southern Shanxi, southern Gansu, Hubei, Sichuan, southern Jiangxi, Hunan, Guizhou, and Yunnan)
- Vietnam
- Laos
- Cambodia
- Thailand
- Malaysia
- Sumatera
- Andaman Islands
- Nicobar Islands
- Myanmar
- Bangladesh
- India (including many states like Tripura, Assam, Sikkim, West Bengal, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Odisha, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, and Kerala)
- East Himalaya
- Nepal
- Sri Lanka
Even though it's found in many places, it's not everywhere. For example, you won't find it in some parts of Borneo.
Common Names
People in different regions have different names for M. repandus:
- climbing mallotus (Australia)
- waithied (Lifou)
- wananugapok (Waskuk)
- toho (Wagu)
- ngontoen (New Guinea)
- nono nuifmetan ((Dawan)
- bina (Rote)
- keterakaba, ikur wase, rowe (Lesser Sunda Islands)
- katjoe-kilang, merangan, sindukan, toekal takal (Jawa/Java)
- panuálan (Tagalog)
- adgao, ambao, tagbanua, tapin (Philippines)
- 石岩枫, shi yan feng (Chinese)
- ma-pawp-kua (Lao)
- chumpu préi, champou prei, mtehs barang (Khmer)
- โคคลาน, makai krapap, krapok krapoi, kurapia, makai khruea, makai kûae, mapop khruea, naeo nam, pho khan, yiao maeo, yiao maeo thao (Thai)
- ku-ko-mu-ya (Malay)
- ngahlaing-bo, taw-thidin-nww (Myanmar)
- akoos (Hindi)
- kanda-veltoo (Teling, India)
- watta-tali (India)
Uses of the Plant
Mallotus repandus has some interesting uses!
- On Rote Island in eastern Indonesia, the wood of this plant, called bina, is used to make the bars for a special musical instrument called meko ai. This instrument is a type of xylophone with wooden bars. There's even an old story about how this plant was used to create this instrument.
- In Cambodia, people use the wood to make charcoal, which can then be used to make powder.
- In some parts of Thailand, like Kut Chum District, people use this plant in traditional medicine. They believe it can help with bone pain and act like an antibiotic. Other places in Thailand use the bark in traditional medicine to help with skin problems and liver issues.
