Citizendia
Your Ad Here

Alstonia
Indian Devil tree (Alstonia scholaris)
Indian Devil tree (Alstonia scholaris)
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Division: Magnoliophyta
Class: Magnoliopsida
Order: Gentianales
Family: Apocynaceae
Tribe: Plumeriae
Subtribe: Alstoniinae
Genus: Alstonia
R.Br.
Species

See text. Plants are living Organisms belonging to the kingdom Plantae. The flowering plants or angiosperms ( Angiospermae or Magnoliophyta) are the most widespread group Magnoliopsida is the Botanical name for a class of Flowering plants By definition the class will include the family Magnoliaceae, but its Gentianales are an order of Flowering plants included within the Asterid group of Dicotyledons The circumscription of Gentiales in the Cronquist Robert Brown FRS ( 21 December, 1773 &ndash 10 June, 1858) was a Scottish scientist who is acknowledged as the leading botanist In Biology, a species is one of the basic units of Biological classification and a Taxonomic rank.

Alstonia is a widespread genus of evergreen trees and shrubs from the dogbane family (Apocynaceae). A genus (plural genera from Γένος Latin genus "descent family type gender" is a low-level Taxonomic In Botany, an Evergreen plant is a plant having leaves all year round A shrub or Bush is a horticultural rather than strictly botanical category of Woody plant, distinguished from a Tree It was named by Robert Brown in 1811, after Charles Alston (1685-1760), Professor of botany at Edinburgh from 1716-1760. Robert Brown can refer to Politicians Sir Robert Brown 1st Baronet of Westminster (died 1760 British Member of Parliament Bob Brown Charles Alston ( 1683 - November 22, 1760) was a Scottish Botanist. Botany, plant science(s, phytology, or plant biology is a branch of Biology and is the scientific study of plant Life Edinburgh ( ˈɛdɪnb(ərə Dùn Èideann) is the Capital of Scotland and is its second largest city after Glasgow.

The type species Alstonia scholaris (L. ) R. Br. was originally named Echites scholaris by Linnaeus in 1767. Carl Linnaeus (Latinized as Carolus Linnaeus, also known after his ennoblement as, May 23 new style (13 May old style 1707 who laid the foundations for

Description

Alstonia (devil tree) consists of about 40-60 species (according to different authors), native to tropical and subtropical Africa, Central America, southeast Asia, Polynesia and Australia, with most species in the Malesian region. In Biology, a species is one of the basic units of Biological classification and a Taxonomic rank. Polynesia (from Greek: πολύς many, νῆσος island) is a Subregion of Oceania, comprising a large grouping of over For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic Australia topics.

These trees can grow very large, such as Alstonia pneumatophora, recorded with a height of 60 m and a diameter of more than 2 m. Alstonia longifolia is the only species growing in Central America (mainly shrubs, but also trees 20 m high).

The leathery, sessile, simple leaves are elliptical, ovate, linear or lanceolate and wedge-shaped at the base. In Botany, a leaf is an above-ground Plant organ specialized for Photosynthesis. The leaf blade is dorsiventral, medium-sized to large and disposed oppositely or in a whorl and with entire margin. The leaf venation is pinnate, with numerous veins ending in a marginal vein.

The inflorescence is terminal or axillary, consisting of thyrsiform cymes or compound umbels. An inflorescence is a group or cluster of Flowers arranged on a stem that is composed of a main Branch or a complicated arrangement of branches An umbel is an Inflorescence which consists of a number of short Flower stalks (called pedicels) which are equal in length and spread from a common The small, more or less fragrant flowers are white, yellow, pink or green and funnel-shaped, growing on a pedicel and subtended by bracts. A flower, also known as a bloom or Blossom, is the reproductive structure found in Flowering plants (plants of the division Magnoliophyta, also In Botany, a bract is a modified or specialized Leaf. Bracts are ordinarily associated with reproductive structures (subtending Flowers Inflorescence They consist of 5 petals and 5 sepals, arranged in four whorls. A petal (from Ancient Greek petalon "leaf" "thin plate" regarded as a highly modified leaf is one member or part of the corolla A sepal (from Latin separatus "separate" + petalum "petal" is a part of the flower of Angiosperms or flower plants The fertile flowers are hermaphrodite. The gamosepalous green sepals consist of ovate lobes, and are distributed in one whorl. The annular disk is hypogynous. The five gamesepalous petals have oblong or ovate lobes and are disposed in one whorl. The corolla lobes overlapping to the left (such as A. A petal (from Ancient Greek petalon "leaf" "thin plate" regarded as a highly modified leaf is one member or part of the corolla rostrata) or to the right (such as A. macrophylla) in the bud. The ovary has 2 separate follicles with glabrous or ciliate, oblong seeds that develop into deep blue podlike, schizocarp fruit, between 7-40 cm long. In the Flowering plants an ovary is a part of the female reproductive organ of the flower or Gynoecium. A seed (in some plants referred to as a kernel) is a small embryonic Plant enclosed in a covering called the seed coat usually with some stored The term fruit has different meanings dependent on context and the term is not synonymous in Food preparation and Biology. The plants contain a milky sap, rich in poisonous alkaloids. This article is about the chemical compounds alkaloids For the Pharmaceutical company in the Republic of Macedonia see Alkaloid (company. The Alstonia macrophylla is commonly known in Sri Lanka as 'Havari nuga' or the 'wig banyan' because of its distinct flower that looks like a woman's long wig. Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka ( Sinhalese:, இலங்கை known as Ceylon before 1972 is an Island

Alstonia trees are used in traditional medicine. The term traditional medicine ( Indigenous medicine or folk medicine) describes medical knowledge systems which developed over centuries within various societies The bark of the Alstonia constricta and the Alstonia scholaris is a source of a remedy against malaria, toothache, rheumatism and snake bites. Alstonia scholaris (Apocynaceae commonly called Blackboard tree Indian devil tree Ditabark Milkwood pine White cheesewood and Pulai syn Malaria is a vector -borne Infectious disease caused by Protozoan Parasites It is widespread in tropical and subtropical regions including The latex is used in treating coughs, throat sores and fever. LaTeX (ˈleɪtɛ

Many Alstonia species are commercial timbers, called pule or pulai in Indonesia and Malaysia. Trees from the section Alstonia produce light timber, while those from the sections Monuraspermum and Dissuraspermum produce heavy timber.

Alstonia trees are widespread and mostly not endangered. However a few species are very rare, such as A. annamensis, A. beatricis, A. breviloba, A. stenophylla and A. guangxiensis.

Species

Alstonia has five distinct sections, each a monophyletic group; Alstonia, Blaberopus, Tonduzia, Monuraspermum, Dissuraspermum. A clade is a taxonomic group comprising a single Common ancestor and all the descendants of that ancestor

Bitter Bark (Alstonia scholaris)
Bitter Bark (Alstonia scholaris)

References

© 2009 citizendia.org; parts available under the terms of GNU Free Documentation License, from http://en.wikipedia.org
 Dapyx Software network: MP3 Explorer | Ebook Manager | Zenithic