Ehretia microphylla
| Ehretia microphylla | |
|---|---|
| File:Starr 010425-0048 Carmona retusa.jpg | |
| Flower, fruit and leaf | |
Scientific classification 
| |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| Clade: | Tracheophytes |
| Clade: | Angiosperms |
| Clade: | Eudicots |
| Clade: | Asterids |
| Order: | Boraginales |
| Family: | Ehretiaceae |
| Genus: | Ehretia |
| Species: | E. microphylla
|
| Binomial name | |
| Ehretia microphylla | |
| Synonyms[1] | |
|
Homotypic
Heterotypic
| |
Ehretia microphylla is commonly known as the Fukien tea tree or Philippine tea tree,[citation needed] is a species of flowering plant. The genus Ehretia is placed in the family Ehretiaceae.[2]
Description
[edit | edit source]Ehretia microphylla is a shrub growing to 4 m height, with long, straggling, slender branches. It is deciduous during the dry season. Its leaves are usually 10–50 mm long and 5–30 mm wide, and may vary in size, texture, colour and margin. It has small white flowers 8–10 mm in diameter with a 4–5 lobed corolla, and drupes 4–6 mm in diameter, ripening brownish orange.[3][4]
Distribution and habitat
[edit | edit source]The plant occurs widely in eastern and south-eastern Asia from India, Indochina, southern China, and Japan, through Malesia (including the Australian territory of Christmas Island) and New Guinea to mainland Australia (Cape York Peninsula) and the Solomon Islands. It has become an invasive weed in Hawaii where it is a popular ornamental plant and where the seeds are thought to be spread by fruit-eating birds.[4]
On Cape York Peninsula, the plant is recorded from semi-evergreen vine thickets. On Christmas Island, it favours dry sites on the terraces, and sometimes occurs in rainforest.[5]
Uses
[edit | edit source]The plant is popular in Penjing in China. The leaves are used medicinally in the Philippines to treat cough, colic, diarrhea and dysentery.[4]
References
[edit | edit source]- ^ a b Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
- ^ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
- ^ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
- ^ a b c Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
- ^ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
Lua error in Module:Taxonbar at line 165: attempt to index field 'wikibase' (a nil value).