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Bischofia javanica

(Javanese Bishopweed)

Interesting Facts

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Common Names

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Click on the language to view common names.

Common Names in English:

Bischofia, Bishopwood, Java Bishop-Wood, Java-Cedar, Javanese Bishopweed, Javanese Bishopwood, Javawood, Koka, Tongotongo, Toog, Toog Tree

Common Names in Hindi:

पिनयाला, Paniala

Common Names in Informal Latinized N:

Bischofia

Common Names in Thai:

เติม

Common Names in Vietnamese:

Nhô Tía

Description

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Family Euphorbiaceae

The Euphorbiaceae are mostly monoecious herbs, shrubs , and trees , sometimes succulent and cactus-like, comprising one of the largest families of plants with about 300 genera and 7,500 species that are further characterized by the frequent occurrence of milky sap . The leaves are mostly alternate but may be opposite or whorled and they are simple , or compound , or sometimes highly reduced. Stipules are generally present but may be reduced to hairs , glands or spines. The flowers are unisexual and usually actinomorphic . They may be highly reduced by suppression of parts, in the extreme form consisting of a naked stamen as a male flower and a naked pistil as a female flower. A specialized type of miniature inflorescence called a cyathium occurs in about 1,500 species comprising the genera Euphorbia and Chamaesyce. The cyathium consists of a single naked pistillate flower surrounded by cymes of naked staminate flowers, each consisting of a single stamen. These flowers are all enclosed in a cup-like involucre that typically is provided with peripheral nectaries and petaloid appendages such that the whole aggregation closely resembles a single flower. In other members of the family the flowers and inflorescences are more ordinary in appearance , with male and female flowers typically bearing a 5-merous calyx and corolla of distinct segments, although the corolla is sometimes absent. In these forms the androecium most commonly consists of 5, 10 or sometimes numerous distinct or monadelphous stamens. The gynoecium of female flowers consists of a single compound pistil of typically 3 carpels, an equal number of styles or primary style branches, and a superior ovary with typically 3 locules, each bearing 1 or 2 collateral , axile-apical pendulous ovules. The fruit is usually a capsular schizocarp. -- Gerald Carr.

Physical Description

Species Bischofia javanica

Trees to 40 m tall, to 2.3 m d.b.h., evergreen ; stem straight, branching lower; bark gray-brown to brown, ca. 1 cm thick, with red latex; branchlets glabrous . Leaves palmately 3(-5) -foliolate; stipules membranous, lanceolate, ca. 8 mm, caducous ; petiole 8-20 cm; terminal petiolule 2-5 cm, lateral petiolules 5-20 mm; leaflet blades ovate , elliptic , obovate , or elliptic-ovate, 7-15 × 4-8 cm, papery , sparsely pubescent only on nerves , glabrescent , base broadly cuneate to obtuse , margins with 2 or 3 teeth per cm, apex acute or caudate-acuminate. Plants dioecious. Inflorescence axillary , paniculate ; male peduncle 8-13 cm, puberulent to glabrous, female peduncle 15-27 cm, pendent. Male flowers to 2.5 mm in diam.; sepals membranous, semiorbicular, adaxially concave , ladle-shaped, abaxially puberulent outside; filaments short; pistillode small, peltate, pubescent. Female flowers: sepals similar to male but oblong-ovate, margins membranous; ovary smooth , glabrous, 3- or 4-locular; styles 3 or 4, linear , entire. Fruits globose or subglobose, 6-13 mm in diam., brownish. Seeds oblong , ca. 5 mm. Fl. Apr-May, fr. Aug-Oct. [source]

Habit: Tree

Flowers: Bloom Period: March. • Flower Color: green

Size/Age/Growth

Size: over 40' tall.

Habitat

Evergreen forests , open valley woodlands, widely planted on stream banks, cultivated in gardens and along avenues; below 800 m (Ref. 52322).

Typically found in water with a depth of 0 to -4,530 meters (0 to -14,862 feet).[1]

Biology

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Reproduction

Duration: Perennial

Growth

Soil: Minimum pH: 5.6 • Maximum pH: 7.5

Sunlight: Sun Exposure: Full Sun .

Temperature: Cold Hardiness: 9a, 9b, 10a, 10b, 11. (map)

Taxonomy

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Unambiguous Synonyms

  1. Andrachne trifoliata Roxburgh
  2. B. leptopoda Müller Argoviensis
  3. B. oblongifolia Decaisne; B. Roeperiana Decaisne
  4. B. toui Decaisne; B. trifoliata (Roxburgh) Hooker
  5. Bischofia cumingiana Decaisne
  6. Microelus roeperianus (Decaisne) Wight & Arnott
  7. Stylodiscus trifoliatus (Roxburgh) Bennett.

Notes

Name Status: Accepted Name .

An accepted name in the RHS Horticultural Database.

Place of publication : Bijdr. 17:1168. 1826-1827

Name verified on 22-Oct-1999 by ARS Systematic Botanists. Last updated: 22-Oct-1999

Similar Species

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Members of the genus Bischofia

ZipcodeZoo has pages for 7 species, subspecies, varieties, forms, and cultivars in this genus:

B. cummingiana · B. javanica (Javanese Bishopweed) · B. oblongifolia · B. polycarpa · B. racemosa · B. toui · B. trifoliata

More Info

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Further Reading

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Notes

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Contributors

Data Sources

Accessed through GBIF Data Portal November 14, 2007:

Identifiers

Footnotes

  1. Mean = -387.420 meters (-1,271.063 feet), Standard Deviation = 1,208.060 based on 280 observations. Ocean depth information for each observation from British Oceanographic Data Centre. [back]
Last Revised: 7/1/2009