Common Name:

General Information

Aglaia silvestris is a tree with a broad, rounded crown; it usually grows up to 30 metres tall, though specimens to 50 metres have been recorded. The bole can be free of branches for up to 13 metres, up to 60cm in diameter, with up to 7 'L'-shaped buttresses that can be 120cm tall and 215cm outwards[, ].
The tree is harvested from the wild for local use as a food and a source of timber. It is an important timber source in some areas, often traded locally and sometimes also internationally[, ].
Habitat destruction could be a serious threat to this species in the near future. The plant is classified as 'Near Threatened' in the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species(2013)[].

Known Hazards

None known

Botanical References

Range

E. Asia - Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam, Malaysia, Indonesia, Philippines, New Guinea to the western Pacific.

Habitat

A mid-canopy tree in primary forests; swamps; savannah; kerangas; monsoon forests; moss forests; sides of rivers and roadsides; growing on clayey loams, samdstones, sands and limestones; at elevations from sea level to 2,100 metres[, ].

Properties

Conservation Status	Near Threatened
Edibility Rating
Other Uses Rating
Habit	Tree
Height	0.00 m
Pollinators	Insects
Self-fertile	No
Cultivation Status	Wild

Cultivation Details

The plant is often found in the wild in Kerangas forest - a type of moist, heath forest found on acidic, sandy soils that are low in nutrients, especially nitrogen[].
A dioecious species, both male and female forms need to be grown if fruit and seed are required[].

Edible Uses

Fruit - raw[, ]. A sweet flavour[]. The brown, red, orange or yellow fruits are up to 20mm in diameter, containing up to 3 seeds, each covered with a thin layer of sweet flesh[].

Medicinal

The genus 'Aglaia' is the only source of the group of about 50 known representatives of compounds that bear a unique cyclopenta[b]tetrahydrobenzofuran skeleton. These compounds are more commonly called rocaglate or rocaglamide derivatives, or flavaglines, and most have been found to have potent insecticidal properties, antifungal, antiviral, antibacterial or anthelmintic bioactivity. Several of them exhibit pronounced cytotoxic activity against a range of human cancers. Since the first representative in this group was only discovered in 1982, this is one of the few recent examples of a completely new class of plant secondary metabolites of biological promise (see B. G. Wang et al., Biochem. Syst. Ecol. 32: 1223-1226. 2004; L.W. Chaidir et al., J. Nat. Prod. 64: 1216-1220. 2001)[, ].

Other Uses

The genus 'Aglaia' is the only source of the group of about 50 known representatives of compounds that bear a unique cyclopenta[b]tetrahydrobenzofuran skeleton. These compounds are more commonly called rocaglate or rocaglamide derivatives, or flavaglines, and most have been found to have potent insecticidal properties, antifungal, antiviral, antibacterial or anthelmintic bioactivity. Several of them exhibit pronounced cytotoxic activity against a range of human cancers. Since the first representative in this group was only discovered in 1982, this is one of the few recent examples of a completely new class of plant secondary metabolites of biological promise (see B. G. Wang et al., Biochem. Syst. Ecol. 32: 1223-1226. 2004; L.W. Chaidir et al., J. Nat. Prod. 64: 1216-1220. 2001)[, ].

The heartwood is a pale yellowish-brown to almost white; the sapwood is a pale reddish-brown[]. The wood is light in weight, fragrant[, ]. It is used for spear shafts, axe handles, boards in houses etc[, ]. The buttresses are used in house building[].

Propagation

Seed -

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