''Aglaia argentea'' is a species of plants in the family

Meliaceae Meliaceae, the mahogany family, is a flowering plant family of mostly trees and shrubs (and a few herbaceous plants, mangroves) in the order Sapindales. They are characterised by alternate, usually pinnate leaves without stipules, and by syncarp ...

. It is a tree found in

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, the

Philippines The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. Located in the western Pacific Ocean, it consists of List of islands of the Philippines, 7,641 islands, with a tot ...

, the

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, and

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Description

''Aglaia argentea'' is an evergreen tree up to tall, but may flower and fruit at about . It has a spiral leaf arrangement and pinnately compound leaves with leaflets that are elliptical or oblong. The leaves typically range in size from long and wide. It is a

dioecious Dioecy ( ; ; adj. dioecious, ) is a characteristic of certain species that have distinct unisexual individuals, each producing either male or female gametes, either directly (in animals) or indirectly (in seed plants). Dioecious reproduction is ...

species, meaning that male and female flowers are borne on separate plants. The flowers on both are similar, having 5 petals each. The male flowers have 5 stamens and the female flowers have superior ovaries. The fruit are about diameter, oval and fleshy, and contain one to three seeds. The flowers have a complex inflorescence that can grow up to long and wide, with radial symmetry.

Taxonomy

It was first described in 1825 by German-Dutch botanist

Carl Ludwig Blume Charles Ludwig de Blume or Karl Ludwig von Blume (9 June 1796 – 3 February 1862) was a German-Dutch botanist and entomologist who spent most of his professional life in the Netherlands and the Dutch East Indies. As deputy director of agricul ...

in his book ''Bijdragen tot de flora van Nederlandsch Indië''.

Ecology

This species is found in well-developed rainforests and other humid lowland areas. It grows in wet tropical areas of east Asia, Australia, and some of the Pacific islands. It thrives on full sunlight and moderate amounts of water. It is also successful on many different soil types, such as: basalt, clay, coral sand, granite, limestone and sandstone. It is pollinated by insects and the seeds are commonly dispersed by birds that eat the fruit.

Cultivation and Uses

The tree produces edible fruits that are often cultivated and eaten without the seeds in East Asia and some of the Pacific islands. The bark of the tree has steroids that were isolated to use as cytotoxins to help with some forms of cancer such as leukaemia. ''A. argente''a is also known for a naturally occurring chemical called

rocaglamide Rocaglamide is a natural product which belongs to a class of molecules called flavaglines. This compound was isolated in 1982 by Ming-Lu King (金明儒) and colleagues based on its antileukemic activity. The name of Rocaglamide is named from tw ...

which contains properties that are useful as insecticides, antifungals, and antibacterial applications. In addition to the antibacterial properties, rocaglamide is also helpful with leukaemia much like the steroids mentioned before. Its timber is commonly used as a substitute for mahogany and it is also a great coloniser when regenerating forests and wildlife in areas where rainforests have been destroyed in the past.

Common names

Common names include silver boodyara, bekak, or koping-koping. It is also locally known as iloilo in the

Western Visayas Western Visayas (; ; ) is an Regions of the Philippines, administrative region in the Philippines, numerically designated as Region VI. The region comprises the islands of Panay and Guimaras Island, Guimaras. It consists of five Provinces of the ...

in the

, named after the

city of Iloilo Iloilo City, officially the City of Iloilo (; ; ), is a Cities of the Philippines#Legal classification, highly urbanized city in the Western Visayas Regions of the Philippines, region of the Philippines, located on the southeastern coast of th ...

(and the

Iloilo Iloilo ( ; ), officially the Province of Iloilo (; ; ; ), is a province in the Philippines located in the Western Visayas region. Its capital and largest city is Iloilo City, the regional center of Western Visayas and politically independen ...

province) where the tree is commonly found.

Gallery

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q1938778 argentea Sapindales of Australia Flora of tropical Asia Least concern flora of Australia Least concern biota of Queensland Rare flora of Australia Flora of Queensland Nature Conservation Act rare biota Taxonomy articles created by Polbot