''Dillenia pentagyna'', the dog teak or Nepali elephant apple, is a small tree with tortuous twigs. It is a member of the family

Dilleniaceae Dilleniaceae is a family of flowering plants with 11 genera and about 430 known species. It is known to gardeners for the genus '' Hibbertia'', which contains many commercially valuable garden species. Description and distribution The family is ...

, and is found from

Sulawesi Sulawesi ( ), also known as Celebes ( ), is an island in Indonesia. One of the four Greater Sunda Islands, and the List of islands by area, world's 11th-largest island, it is situated east of Borneo, west of the Maluku Islands, and south of Min ...

to South-Central China to India and Sri Lanka.

Description

A tree some 6-15m tall, with tortuous twigs, the bark is grayish and smooth, exfoliating. Branches are glabrous and stout. Leaves are deciduous, petiolate, oblong to obovate-oblong, glabrous, 30–5 cm long, flowers appear before the leaves, 2–7 in number, yellow coloured petals, flowering starts in April–May. Fruit is globose, 0.5 cm in diameter, black ovoid seed, exarillate. On islands of the

Mekong The Mekong or Mekong River ( , ) is a transboundary river in East Asia and Southeast Asia. It is the world's twelfth-longest river and the third-longest in Asia with an estimated length of and a drainage area of , discharging of wat ...

in northeastern

Cambodia Cambodia, officially the Kingdom of Cambodia, is a country in Southeast Asia on the Mainland Southeast Asia, Indochinese Peninsula. It is bordered by Thailand to the northwest, Laos to the north, and Vietnam to the east, and has a coastline ...

, the tree flowers from February to March, fruits from March to April, and the leaves grow from May to November.

Vernacular names

Common names by which the tree is known include: ''buku''

Tetun Tetum may refer to: * Tetum language, an Austronesian language ** Tetum alphabet, used to write the Tetum language * Tetum people The Tetum, also known as Tetun or Belu in Indonesia, are an ethnic group that are the indigenous inhabitants of th ...

Timor Timor (, , ) is an island at the southern end of Maritime Southeast Asia, in the north of the Timor Sea. The island is Indonesia–Timor-Leste border, divided between the sovereign states of Timor-Leste in the eastern part and Indonesia in the ...

; ''janti'', ''sempu'' Jawa; ''l've/lve'', ''chhë muëy rô:y'', ''pheng'', ''rovey'', ''muoy roy sratoap'' Khmer; 小花五桠果; ''xiǎo huā wǔ yā guǒ'' (small-flowered five tree forks fruit) Chinese; ,

IPA IPA commonly refers to: * International Phonetic Alphabet, a system of phonetic notation ** International Phonetic Association, the organization behind the alphabet * India pale ale, a style of beer * Isopropyl alcohol, a chemical compound IPA ...

: aːn tɕʰaːŋ Thai; '

Bengali Bengali or Bengalee, or Bengalese may refer to: *something of, from, or related to Bengal, a large region in South Asia * Bengalis, an ethnic and linguistic group of the region * Bengali language, the language they speak ** Bengali alphabet, the w ...

; ''akshi''

Assam Assam (, , ) is a state in Northeast India, northeastern India, south of the eastern Himalayas along the Brahmaputra Valley, Brahmaputra and Barak River valleys. Assam covers an area of . It is the second largest state in Northeast India, nor ...

; ', ''kallai''

Hindi Modern Standard Hindi (, ), commonly referred to as Hindi, is the Standard language, standardised variety of the Hindustani language written in the Devanagari script. It is an official language of India, official language of the Government ...

; ', ''punnaga''

Sanskrit Sanskrit (; stem form ; nominal singular , ,) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in northwest South Asia after its predecessor languages had Trans-cultural ...

; ''agaai'', ''taatarii'', ''tatri chinnakalinga'' Nepali; ' Gujarati and

Marathi Marathi may refer to: *Marathi people, an Indo-Aryan ethnolinguistic group of Maharashtra, India **Marathi people (Uttar Pradesh), the Marathi people in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh *Marathi language, the Indo-Aryan language spoken by the Mar ...

; ''rai'' Oriya; ', '

Kannada Kannada () is a Dravidian language spoken predominantly in the state of Karnataka in southwestern India, and spoken by a minority of the population in all neighbouring states. It has 44 million native speakers, and is additionally a ...

; പട്ടിപ്പുന്ന, ''punna'', ''kodapunna''

Malayalam Malayalam (; , ) is a Dravidian languages, Dravidian language spoken in the Indian state of Kerala and the union territories of Lakshadweep and Puducherry (union territory), Puducherry (Mahé district) by the Malayali people. It is one of ...

; '

Telugu Telugu may refer to: * Telugu language, a major Dravidian language of South India ** Telugu literature, is the body of works written in the Telugu language. * Telugu people, an ethno-linguistic group of India * Telugu script, used to write the Tel ...

; பஞ்சகன்னி உவா, ''naytekku'', ''kanigala''

Tamil Tamil may refer to: People, culture and language * Tamils, an ethno-linguistic group native to India, Sri Lanka, and some other parts of Asia **Sri Lankan Tamils, Tamil people native to Sri Lanka ** Myanmar or Burmese Tamils, Tamil people of Ind ...

; ''dog teak'' English; ''dillenia''; ''Nepali elephant apple''

Distribution

The tree grows in the following places:

Lesser Sunda Islands The Lesser Sunda Islands (, , ), now known as Nusa Tenggara Islands (, or "Southeast Islands"), are an archipelago in the Indonesian archipelago. Most of the Lesser Sunda Islands are located within the Wallacea region, except for the Bali pro ...

including

, Jawa,

Peninsular Malaysia Peninsular Malaysia, historically known as Malaya and also known as West Malaysia or the Malaysian Peninsula, is the western part of Malaysia that comprises the southern part of the Malay Peninsula on Mainland Southeast Asia and the list of isla ...

Thailand Thailand, officially the Kingdom of Thailand and historically known as Siam (the official name until 1939), is a country in Southeast Asia on the Mainland Southeast Asia, Indochinese Peninsula. With a population of almost 66 million, it spa ...

Vietnam Vietnam, officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam (SRV), is a country at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of about and a population of over 100 million, making it the world's List of countries and depende ...

, Cambodia,

Laos Laos, officially the Lao People's Democratic Republic (LPDR), is the only landlocked country in Southeast Asia. It is bordered by Myanmar and China to the northwest, Vietnam to the east, Cambodia to the southeast, and Thailand to the west and ...

Hainan Hainan is an island provinces of China, province and the southernmost province of China. It consists of the eponymous Hainan Island and various smaller islands in the South China Sea under the province's administration. The name literally mean ...

, South-Central China including

Yunnan Yunnan; is an inland Provinces of China, province in Southwestern China. The province spans approximately and has a population of 47.2 million (as of 2020). The capital of the province is Kunming. The province borders the Chinese provinces ...

Andaman and Nicobar Islands The Andaman and Nicobar Islands is a union territory of India comprising 572 islands, of which only 38 are inhabited. The islands are grouped into two main clusters: the northern Andaman Islands and the southern Nicobar Islands, separated by a ...

Myanmar Myanmar, officially the Republic of the Union of Myanmar; and also referred to as Burma (the official English name until 1989), is a country in northwest Southeast Asia. It is the largest country by area in Mainland Southeast Asia and has ...

Bangladesh Bangladesh, officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, eighth-most populous country in the world and among the List of countries and dependencies by ...

, East Himalaya,

Bhutan Bhutan, officially the Kingdom of Bhutan, is a landlocked country in South Asia, in the Eastern Himalayas between China to the north and northwest and India to the south and southeast. With a population of over 727,145 and a territory of , ...

Nepal Nepal, officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal, is a landlocked country in South Asia. It is mainly situated in the Himalayas, but also includes parts of the Indo-Gangetic Plain. It borders the Tibet Autonomous Region of China Ch ...

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

(from

Punjab Punjab (; ; also romanised as Panjāb or Panj-Āb) is a geopolitical, cultural, and historical region in South Asia. It is located in the northwestern part of the Indian subcontinent, comprising areas of modern-day eastern Pakistan and no ...

and

Gujarat Gujarat () is a States of India, state along the Western India, western coast of India. Its coastline of about is the longest in the country, most of which lies on the Kathiawar peninsula. Gujarat is the List of states and union territories ...

Mizoram Mizoram is a states and union territories of India, state in northeastern India, with Aizawl as its Capital city, capital and largest city. It shares 722-kilometres (449 miles) of international borders with Bangladesh to the west, and Myanmar t ...

Maharashtra Maharashtra () is a state in the western peninsular region of India occupying a substantial portion of the Deccan Plateau. It is bordered by the Arabian Sea to the west, the Indian states of Karnataka and Goa to the south, Telangana to th ...

West Bengal West Bengal (; Bengali language, Bengali: , , abbr. WB) is a States and union territories of India, state in the East India, eastern portion of India. It is situated along the Bay of Bengal, along with a population of over 91 million inhabi ...

and South India), and

Sri Lanka Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, also known historically as Ceylon, is an island country in South Asia. It lies in the Indian Ocean, southwest of the Bay of Bengal, separated from the Indian subcontinent, ...

Habitat

''Dillenia pentagyna'' is found in rainforests, thickets and on hills below 400m. In Cambodia it grows in groups in open/clear forests. In the ''

Pinus latteri ''Pinus latteri'', or Tenasserim pine, is a pine native to Mainland Southeast Asia. Description ''Pinus latteri'' is a medium-sized to large tree, reaching tall and with a trunk diameter of up to . The bark is orange-red, thick and deeply fissu ...

''-dominated forests of Kirirom National Park, southwestern Cambodia (which occur from 400-1000m elevation), the tree occurs in the 2-8 m high understorey under the 20m high pine canopy. ''D. pentagyna'' grows on islands in the Mekong in Steung Treng and Kratie provinces, northeastern Cambodia. It is found in the ''Deciduous, dipterocarp, seasonal, hardwood forest'', dominated by

Dipterocarpaceae Dipterocarpaceae is a family (biology), family of flowering plants with 22 genera and about 695 known species of mainly lowland tropical forest trees. Their distribution is pantropical, from northern South America to Africa, the Seychelles, India ...

species, occurring above metamorphic sandstone bedrock, at 25-30m elevation. In

Phnom Kulen National Park The Phnom Kulen National Park () is a national park in Cambodia, located in the Phnom Kulen mountain massif in Siem Reap Province. It was established in 1993 and covers . Its official name is Jayavarman-Norodom Phnom Kulen National Park (). Dur ...

, Siem Reap Province, northwestern Cambodia, the tree is a common canopy species in the Deciduous Dipterocarp Forest.

Uses

The tree is used as a source of fruit, traditional medicine, timber and charcoal. Amongst the

speaking practitioners of the ''ai tahan'' traditional medicine, in

Belu Regency Belu Regency is a regency in East Nusa Tenggara province of Indonesia. Situated on the north side of Timor island, it originally stretched to the south coast, but in December 2012 its southern half was detached to form the new Malaka Regency. It ...

, Timor Barat, Indonesia, the bark is used to treat headaches and migraines. In Cambodia, the fruit is eaten, but is not generally appreciated, it also provides a component for a remedy against cough. The timber is used to make humidity resistant boards and beams. Small knick-knacks are made from the wood, which makes excellent charcoal as well. The Bunong people of Mondulkiri Province, northeastern Cambodia, drink a decoction of the bark and wood of both this tree and '' Oroxylum indicum'' to treat cold and fever. Amongst Kuy- and Khmer-speaking people living in the same villages in Stung Treng and Preah Vihear provinces of north-central Cambodia, the tree is used as source of medicine, fuel and food. In various areas of India, parts of the plant are used in ethnomedicine. The Koch-Rajbanshi people of western Assam use the seed and bark against cancer. In the

Konkan The Konkan is a stretch of land by the western coast of India, bound by the river Daman Ganga at Damaon in the north, to Anjediva Island next to Karwar town in the south; with the Arabian Sea to the west and the Deccan plateau to the eas ...

region of Maharashtra, village people use a paste of water and bark to treat wounds. In Deogarh district, Tribal people use a decoction of the fruit and '' Zingiber montanum'' for "blood dysentery". To treat diabetes, ripe fruit is taken regularly. The unripe fruit is consumed as a vegetable.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q10960107 pentagyna Flora of South-Central China Flora of Hainan Flora of the Indian subcontinent Flora of Indo-China Flora of Java Flora of the Lesser Sunda Islands Flora of Malaya Flora of Sulawesi Plants described in 1795