ຕິນເປັດ / Tin Pet
APA 6th ed. ຕີນເປັດ / Tin Pet. (2019, April 3). Retrieved from https://www.phakhaolao.la/kb/0000190
MLA 8th ed. ຕີນເປັດ / Tin Pet. Pha Khao Lao, 3 April 2019, https://www.phakhaolao.la/kb/0000190.
Chicago 17th ed. Pha Khao Lao. 2019. "ຕີນເປັດ / Tin Pet." Published April 3, 2019. https://www.phakhaolao.la/kb/0000190.
Vietnamese: mua cua, mo cua, sua, nangtrung
Cambodian: popeal khe
Chinese: tang jiao shu
English: pulai, devil tree, blackboard tree, devil’s bark, milky pine,
white cheesewood, pagoda tree
Briefly deciduous tree up to 40 m tall and 75 cm in DBH, with the trunk often fluted at the base. Growing in whorls of four to eight, its leaves measure 4.4-32 x 1.2-8.7 cm. Inflorescences are hairy, 3-10 cm long, and have many fragrant green-white flowers growing in clusters at the end of twigs, each 1 cm long. The fruit is a pair of follicles splitting into two sections, 20-56 x 2-3 cm, with many seeds (3.9-7.5 x 1.4-1.9 mm) and a bunch of hairs (1-2 mm long) at each end.
The bark and thin roots of this tree are used in folk medicine to make a drink that lowers body fever, combats diarrhoea and malaria, and treats male genital pains, headaches and pneumonia. An alcoholic extract of the bark has anti-cancer properties, reduces blood sugar levels and relieves inflammation of joints. The latex can be applied to sores to keep maggots out and also makes a good quality chewing gum. Leaves are used to treat syphilis and beriberi. In Vietnam, dried or green leaves are burned under the beds of new mothers and then applied to the back of the patient to stimulate lactation. The bark also yields a fibre. The tree is often ornamentally planted and is recommended as a fuel wood species. Charcoal from its wood is sometimes used as gun powder and the wood has been used to make school blackboards.