blind your eye (excoecaria agallocha): info fact sheet, photos

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Blind Your Eye
Excoecaria agallocha
Milky Mangrove, Buta Buta (Malay), Gewa (Bangladesh)

The milky sap of this tree can cause temporary blindness if it enters the eyes, hence is common name in English and Malay. The sap can also cause skin blisters and irritation.

branch with male flowers

Each tree bears either male or female flowers. So when they are in bloom, the trees can look confusingly different! The flowers are wind pollinated.

The young leaves are pinkish. Old leaves turn bright red when they are about to drop off.

The fruit capsules explode when ripe to disperse the seeds by water. The seeds have an air space within the seed coat to help them float. They don't germinate on the parent tree.

Mangrove and wetland wildlife at
Sungei Buloh Nature Park

Main features: Grows 14-20m tall. Bark: grey, rough covered with brown corky pores. Leaves: 6-10cm long, pointed tips. Old leaves turn bright red. Flowers: Tiny flowers in spikes. Male and female flowers occur in separate trees. Fruit: Small, round, in clusters. Seeds float. Status in Singapore: Rare. World distribution: Africa, across the Asian subcontinent to Japan, Southeast Asia to Australia and the Pacific Islands. Classification: Family Euphorbiaceae. World 2 mangrove species.	Male flowers
	Female flowers
	Fruits

The tree grows further inland usually at the high water mark. It can grow in both stony and muddy ground. The tree can tolerate dry and salty conditions. It grows quickly in open areas, but can also survive in shade.

sap from broken leaf

Uses: Natives in New Guinea use the sap as an ingredient in arrow poison. The sap is also used to stun fish. The timber is soft, white, light with a fine grain and rots quickly. Nevertheless, in Bangladesh, the tree is an important source of cheap planks, matches and matchboxes, and pulp for paper. The timber is easily transported by water as it floats. It is also used as firewood and converted into charcoal.

Traditional medicinal uses: The plant is used to treat sores and stings from marine creatures. Smoke from the bark is used to treat leprosy. The plant is being tested for modern medical uses. Modern clinical trials show that the plant may have anti-HIV, anti-cancer, anti-bacterial and anti-viral properties.

Role in the habitat: Like other mangrove trees, they help stabilise the ground and provide shelter and food for small creatures. For more, see mangrove trees.

LINKS

The Milky Mangrove: fact sheet.
Poisons Information Database at the National University of Singapore: fact sheet.
Field Guide to the Mangroves of Queensland Fabulous page with diagrams, location and distribution map, flowering and fruiting seasons
Direct uses of mangrove flora in Southeast Asia on the Wetlands International-Asia Pacific website: uses and traditional medicinal uses.
ISME (International Society for Mangrove Ecosystems): fact sheet on distribution, habits, uses, photo.
Mangrove Conservation and Development: fact sheet on Excoecaria algallocha with lots of photos.
Notes on the Sundarbans with emphasis on geology, hydrology and forestry by Samuel Snedaker: fact sheet describing it and its uses in Bangladesh.

Modern medicinal properties

AIDSLINE National Library of Medicine: about a chemical found in Excoecaria agallocha with anti-HIV properties.
RRPF (Recurrent Respiratory Papillomatosis Foundation) Medical Reference Service: Anti-tumor-promoting activity of diterpenes from Excoecaria agallocha by Konishi T, Takasaki M, Tokuda H, Kiyosawa S, Konoshima T Kyoto Pharmaceutical University, Japan: studies of the anti-tumor properties of the plant.
National Research Centre for Agroforestry, India: Antibacterial and antiviral activity of latex of Excoecaria agallocha.

REFERENCES

To buy these references & others, visit
Nature's Niche

Peter K L Ng and N Sivasothi, "A Guide to the Mangroves of Singapore I: The Ecosystem and Plant Diversity", Singapore Science Centre, 1999 (p. 111-112: description, habit, photo).
Colin Field, "Journey Amongst Mangroves", ISME, 1995 (p. 26: description, photo).
Michael Mastaller, "Mangroves: The Forgotten Forest Between Land and Sea", Tropical Press, 1997 (p. 97-98, 102: medicinal uses and other uses).

By Ria Tan, 2001