Alstonia scholaris
Dublin Core
Title
Alstonia scholaris
Subject
Taxonomy
Phylum :Tracheophyta
Class :Magnoliopsida
Order :Gentianales
Family :Apocynaceae
Genus :Alstonia
Species :Alstonia scholaris
Phylum :Tracheophyta
Class :Magnoliopsida
Order :Gentianales
Family :Apocynaceae
Genus :Alstonia
Species :Alstonia scholaris
Synonyms
Echites scholaris L., Pala scholaris (L.) Roberty
Common name
Pulai (Peninsular), kacau gitik, gite' ( Sarawak),white cheesewood, milkwood, blackboard tree, common alstonia, devil tree, devil’s wood tree, dita bark, dita bark tree, dried njau, Indian pulai, milky pine, shaitan wood
Description
Characteristics
A medium-sized to large tree that can grow up to 10-50(-60) m tall.
A medium-sized to large tree that can grow up to 10-50(-60) m tall.
Morphology
Leaves
In whorls of 4-8(-9), narrowly elliptical to obovate, measuring (5-)6-17(-22) cm x (1.5-)2.5-7.5(-8.5) cm, obtuse or rounded at apex and with 25-45(-55) pairs of secondary veins. The petiole is 5-20(-25) mm long.
Buttresses
Stout and measure up to 10 m tall which spread out at the base for up to 4 m. The outer bark is brown or yellowish-white, smooth but coming off evenly in small papery flakes, with horizontally enlarged lenticels and hoops while the inner bark is yellow to brown usually tinged yellowish and with copious white latex.
Inflorescence
Mostly formed of dense bunches of flowers and many-flowered while the pedicel is 0-2 mm long. The sepal is soft hairy while the petal is hairy outside. Follicles are hairless.
Chemical compound
Picrinine-types of monoterpenoid indole alkaloids (e.g. 5-methoxyaspidophylline, picralinal and 5-methoxystrictamine), C13-norisoprenoids (e.g. megastigmane-3β, 4α, 9-triol and 7-megastigmene-3, 6, 9-triol), 2,3-secofernane triterpenoids (e.g. alstonic acids A and alstonic acids B) and indole alkaloid (e.g. N1-methoxymethyl picrinine) , 19-epischolarine, Nb-methyl-scholarine, Na- metylburnamine, vallesamine Nb-oxide, 6,7-seco-19,20-epoxyyanggustibobine B , lagunamine (19-hydroxytubotaiwine), angustilobine B acid, losbanine (6,7-seco-6-nor-angustilobine B), and tubotaiwine. Bark has been reported to contain 17-O-Acetylechitamine and echitamine. Stem bark has been reported to contain alkaloids (e.g. alstonidine, alstonine, alstovenine, chlorogenic acid, chlorogenine, ditain, ditaine, ditamine, echicaoutchin, echicerin, echiretin, echitamine, echitein, echitenin, echitin, porphyrine, porphyrosine, reserpine, venenatine, villalstonine pleiocarpamine, O-methylmacralstonine, macralstonine O-acetylmacralstonine, villalstonine, macrocarpamine, corialstonine and corialstonidine) and triterpenoids (e.g. lupeol linoleate, lupeol palmitate and alpha-amyrin linoleate). Other alkaloids that had been isolated are nareline methyl ether, nareline ethyl ether , 5-epi-nareline ethyl ether, picrinine, scholaricine and scholarine-N(4)oxide, 12-methoxyechitamidine , 19,20-[E]-vallesamine, angustilobine, B-N4-oxide, 20(S)-tubotaiwine and 6,7-seco-angustilobine.
Plant part used
Bark and leaves
Traditional uses
- The poultice of the roasted and pulverised A. scholaris tender leaves is used as a local stimulant to unhealthy ulcers with foul discharges.
- The leaves juice together with fresh ginger or zedoary is given to women after confinement.
- The milky juice has been traditionally used to treat ulcers, and mixed with oil as a remedy for ear-ache.
- The bark is considered acrid, bitter, heating, oleaginous, appetiser, laxative, anthelmintic, galactagogue, heart problems, asthma, leucoderma, ulcersm, blood problems, “tridosha”, pains, tumours, very good for chronic ulcers and carries of the teeth.
- It has been used as an astringent tonic, anthelmintic, alterative and antiperiodic.
- The bark is a valuable remedy in chronic diarrhoea and dysentery as well as catarrhal fever.
- Bark is used for snake-bite and scorpion-sting in combination with the other drugs.
- It also used for stomachache by ground the bark with water, strained and drinks it while the residue is being rubbed over the pit of the stomach.
- The fresh bark in milk is given for leprosy, dyspepsia and as anthelminthic.
- Root is used to treat pain because of the enlarged liver.
Medicinal uses
- Have a major alkaloid, alstonine has antitumor activity in YC8 lymphoma and Ehrlich ascites carcinoma cells.
- Bisindole and villalstonine showed marked activity against human cancer cell lines, MOR-P (adenocarcinoma), COR-L23 (large cell carcinoma) cell lines although in these cells, pleiocarpamine, Omethylmacralstonine and macralstonine were much less active than villalstonine.
- Oacetylmacralstonine, villalstonine and macrocarpamine were cytotoxic to human cancer cell lines, MOR-P, COR-L23 StMI1 1a (melanoma), Caki-2 (renal cell carcinoma), MCF7 (breast adenocarcinoma) and LS174T (colon adenocarcinoma).
- The leaves of Alstonia scholaris possessed the highest inhibitory effect for two sugar compounds which are sucrase and maltase when compared with Cratoxylum mangayi and Dillenia indica.
List of country
Sri Lanka, India through mainland Southeast Asia, southern China, throughout Malaysia, to northern Australia, Bismarck Archipelago and Solomon Islands.
Creator
Alstonia scholaris (Linnaeus,1767)
Source
Publisher
Nur Athirah Roshaizi
Contributor
Nur Athirah Roshaizi
Language
English
Collection
Citation
Alstonia scholaris (Linnaeus,1767), “Alstonia scholaris,” BIDARA, accessed February 4, 2026, https://bidara.uthm.edu.my/items/show/394.