Vasilis Teodoridis:
Euphorbiaceae | Antidesma
1. Antidesma ghaesembilla Gaertner; Fruct. Sem. Pl. 1: 89. 1788.
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Trees up to 20 m tall; young twigs pubescent. Stipules needlelike; 3-6 x 0.5-1 mm; pubescent; caducous; petiole 4-10(-20) mm; pubescent; leaf blade oblong; more rarely ovate or obovate; (2-)3-7(-16) x (2-)3-5(-9) cm; papery to thinly leathery; pubescent to glabrous especially adaxially; often only major veins and margin pubescent; dull or shiny adaxially; dull abaxially; drying olive green to reddish green; base rounded to cordate; rarely obtuse; apex rounded; more rarely obtuse or acute; sometimes mucronate or retuse; domatia sometimes present; midvein flat adaxially; lateral veins 5-7 pairs; tertiary veins reticulate to weakly percurrent. Inflorescences axillary and terminal; axes reddish pubescent; males 4-8 cm; 10-20-branched; females 2-3 cm; (1-)10-20-branched; fruiting 4-7 cm. Male flowers sessile; sepals (4 or)5(-7); free; 0.5-1 mm; deltoid to oblong; pubescent outside; ± glabrous inside; apex acute to obtuse; disk consisting of 4-7 free alternistaminal obconical lobes; pubescent; stamens (4 or)5(-7); 2-2.5 mm; rudimentary ovary obconical. Female including fruiting pedicels 0-1 mm; sepals as in male; disk glabrous to pubescent especially at margin; ovary pubescent; stigmas (2 or)3(-5). Drupes ellipsoid; laterally compressed; 3-4(-5) x 2.5-3(-3.5) mm; sparsely pubescent; style terminal to more rarely subterminal. Fl. Mar-Sep; fr. Jun-Dec. x = 13.
Sparse forests; open scrub; deciduous; evergreen; or mixed dry forests; 200-1100 m. Guangdong; Guangxi; Hainan; Yunnan [Bangladesh; ?Bhutan; Cambodia; India (including Nicobar Islands); Indonesia; Laos; Malaysia; Myanmar; Nepal; Papua New Guinea; Philippines; Sri Lanka; Thailand; Vietnam; N Australia].
The leaves are used as a medicine for headaches; the stem is used as a medicine to stimulate the menstrual flow. The fruit is eaten locally or used as a purgative.