''Fagraea auriculata''Jack W (1822) ''Malayan Miscellanies. Bencoolen (Benkulen)'' 2(VII): 82. is a species of bush or semi-

liana A liana is a long-Plant stem, stemmed Woody plant, woody vine that is rooted in the soil at ground level and uses trees, as well as other means of vertical support, to climb up to the Canopy (biology), canopy in search of direct sunlight. T ...

in the family

Gentianaceae Gentianaceae is a family of flowering plants of 105 genera and about 1600 species. Etymology The family takes its name from the genus ''Gentiana'', named after the Illyrian king Gentius. Distribution Distribution is cosmopolitan (species), cosm ...

, formerly in the family

Loganiaceae The Loganiaceae are a family of flowering plants classified in order Gentianales. The family includes up to 13 genera, distributed around the world's tropics. There are not any great morphological characteristics to distinguish these taxa from ot ...

. It can be found in

Indo-China Mainland Southeast Asia (historically known as Indochina and the Indochinese Peninsula) is the continental portion of Southeast Asia. It lies east of the Indian subcontinent and south of Mainland China and is bordered by the Indian Ocean to th ...

and

Malesia Malesia is a biogeographical region straddling the Equator and the boundaries of the Indomalayan and Australasian realms. It is a phytogeographical floristic region in the Paleotropical kingdom. It was first recognized as a distinct region ...

(where it may be called bira-bira); in Viet Nam it is called trai tai. It is noted for its huge, white, trumpet-shaped flowers; up to in both length and width. These flowers, the largest produced by any vine, are made of tissue up to 6 mm thick. The size, colour, heavy construction and the fact that they have a musty odour suggest that

bats Bats are flying mammals of the order Chiroptera (). With their forelimbs adapted as wings, they are the only mammals capable of true and sustained flight. Bats are more agile in flight than most birds, flying with their very long spread-out ...

are important pollinators. The leaves are Magnolia-like in size and shape.

Subspecies

The

Catalogue of Life The Catalogue of Life (CoL) is an online database that provides an index of known species of animals, plants, fungi, and microorganisms. It was created in 2001 as a partnership between the global Species 2000 and the American Integrated Taxono ...

listed two

subspecies In Taxonomy (biology), biological classification, subspecies (: subspecies) is a rank below species, used for populations that live in different areas and vary in size, shape, or other physical characteristics (Morphology (biology), morpholog ...

, but these are not considered distinct by

Plants of the World Online Plants of the World Online (POWO) is an online taxonomic database published by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. History Following the Convention on Biological Diversity, the Royal Botanic Gardens in Kew launched Plants of the World Online i ...

* ''F. auriculata'' subsp. ''auriculata'' * ''F. auriculata'' subsp. ''parviflora''

References

External links

* * {{Taxonbar, from=Q15554969 auriculata Flora of Indo-China Flora of Malesia Taxa named by William Jack (botanist)