Elaeocarpus stipularis
Elaeocarpus stipularis is a tree in the Elaeocarpaceae family. It is found from the Aru Islands, eastern Indonesia, to Philippines, and through Mainland Southeast Asia to Odisha, India. It has edible fruit, its wood is used and some medical uses are ascribed to it. Description. The evergreen, 10-20m tall tree has a simple broad leaves. Its wood density is 0.46g/cm It fruits from November to May in Selangor, Malaysia Infraspecifics. The following varieties are accepted: Some of these varieties are synonymous with formerly accepted species: Distribution. The species is found from northwestern islands of the  Sahul/Australian continent, across southern Wallacea and throughout Southeast Asia: Indonesia (Aru Islands, southern Maluku, East and West Nusa Tenggara, Bali, Jawa, Sumatera, Kalimantan), Timor Leste, Singapore, Malaysia (Peninsular Malaysia, Sabah, Sarawak, Brunei, the Philippines (Mindanao including Bangsamoro and Mimaropa), Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam, Laos, Myanmar and India (Andaman Islands, Nicobar Islands, Odisha). The varieties "alticola" and "atjehensis" are found in Sumatera. The varieties "brevipes", "castaneus" and "rejangensis" are found in Borneo. The varieties "longipetiolatus" and "nutans" are found from Borneo to the Philippines (notably Palawan for var. "longipetiolatus" and the Sulu Archipelago for var. "nutans") The variety "siamensis" is found  in Thailand, Myanmar and India (including Assam and notably Odisha). Habitat. In Cambodia and Vietnam it is found in open formations and in gallery forests, the edges of dense/closed forests. In Thailand's Thung Yai Naresuan Wildlife Sanctuary it is a component of semievergreen forest. Ecology. Parts of the plant (particularly the fruit) are eaten by the fruitbats "Balionycteris maculata", "Chironax melanocephalus", "Cynopterus brachyotis" and "Cynopterus horsfieldii", the kanchil "Tragulus kanchil", the langur "Presbytis femoralis", the pheasant "Lophura erythrophthalma", the porcupine "Trichys fasciculata", the rats "Leopoldamys sabanus" and "Maxomys whiteheadi", the squirrels "Rhinosciurus laticaudatus" and "Lariscus insignis", and the  treeshrew "Tupaia glis". In Thung Yai Naresuan Wildlife Sanctuary, Thailand, the Asian black bear ("Ursus thibetanus") and the sun bear ("Helarctos malayanus") consume the fruit. Vernacular names. Common names for the tree include: "balunijok" (Karo, Sumatera); "mendong" (Temuan people, Malaysia). "sa:ng nha:ng" (Khmer); "sein-se-ba-lu" (southern Shan State, Myanmar). Uses. The trunk of the species is used to make short-lived constructions in Cambodia, while the twigs are often used as firewood. Amongst inhabitants of southern Shan State, Myanmar, the fruit of the var. "siamensis" are eaten. The bark of the taxa is used by the  Karo people of Sumatera to treat impotence. The Temuan people living in the Ayer Hitam Forest of Selangor, Malaysia, use a poultice of pulped leaves of the tree to treat sores. History. Karl Ludwig von Blume, a botanist born in Braunschweig but who studied in the Netherlands, described the nominate species in his Bijdragen tot de Flora van Nederlandsch Indië (Contributions to the Flora of the Netherlandish Indies) in 1825. Mark James Elgar Coode (1937-), British botanist, reviewed the taxa and published the accepted varieties in the Kew Bulletin in 2001, see below. Further reading. Additional information can be found  in: