Etymology | Genus | After Dr Charles Alston, a professor of Botany |
---|---|---|
Species | Having narrow lobes | |
Family | Apocynaceae | |
Synonyms | - | |
Common Names | Common Pulai | |
Status | Native: Common | |
Form | Tree | |
Native Distribution | Thailand, Malaya, Borneo, Sumatra, Java |
The most common Alstonia tree in Malaya, it can grow up to 40m tall with tall, fluted buttresses supporting the base. It can easily be differentiated from other congeners by looking at at the number of leaves in a whorl, where it is the only species which can have more than 6 leaves (between 4-9; Middleton, 2007).
Tree at Upper Seletar forest, 2023
Tall buttresses
A branch with a whorl of 8 leaves
Trunk
Leaf
Flowers
Middleton DJ. (2007) Apocynaceae (Subfamilies Rauvolfioideae and Apocynoideae). Flora Malesiana, Volume 18. 474 pp.