Chisocheton is a genus of trees in the family Meliaceae. The genus name comes from the Greek and meaning "split tunic", referring to the lobed staminal tube of C. patens. Their range is from India and tropical China, throughout Malesia and south to New South Wales and Vanuatu.
Description Chisocheton is typically dioecious. Flowers are usually unisexual, rarely bisexual, with a cup-shaped calyx. Fruits are one or two-seeded. Chisocheton habitats are rain forests, typically understorey trees, from sea-level to about elevation.
The wood of several Chisocheton species is used locally in light construction. In the Philippines, the seeds of Chisocheton cumingianus (known locally as balukanag) are used to make a non-drying oil either for traditional medicine or as fuel for oil lamps.
Leaf indeterminacy Unlike nearly all other seed plants, the leaves of Chisocheton have indeterminate growth - they never stop growing. Instead of forming a terminal leaflet, they form a small circinate leaf-tip bud, which produces new leaflets continuously, every few days or weeks until some physiological limit is exceeded.
This trait is shared with a few closely related genera, such as Guarea.
Species Plants of the World Online accepts 50 species.
Chisocheton aenigmaticus – western Sumatra Chisocheton amabilis – Borneo, Sumatra, Peninsular Malaysia, and southern Thailand Chisocheton cauliflorus – southeastern Philippines Chisocheton celebicus – northeastern Sulawesi Chisocheton ceramicus – Malesia, Papuasia, Thailand, and Vietnam Chisocheton crustularii – Borneo (Sarawak) Chisocheton cumingianus – eastern Indian Subcontinent, Indochina, southern China, Borneo, Philippines, Sulawesi, Maluku Islands, and Papuasia subsp. balansae – eastern Himalayas, Bangladesh, Indochina, and southern China subsp. cumingianus – Laos, Vietnam, Philippines, Sulawesi, Maluku Islands, and Papuasia subsp. kinabaluensis – Borneo (Sabah) Chisocheton curranii – Philippines (Luzon) Chisocheton diversifolius – Sumatra Chisocheton dysoxylifolius – Bangladesh, Myanmar, and Thailand Chisocheton erythrocarpus – Borneo, Peninsular Malaysia, and Vietnam Chisocheton gliroides – southeastern New Guinea Chisocheton granatum – Borneo (Mount Kinabalu) Chisocheton grandiflorus – Myanmar and Thailand Chisocheton koordersii – eastern Borneo and Sulawesi Chisocheton lansiifolius – Borneo Chisocheton laosensis – Maluku Islands Chisocheton lasiocarpus – Papuasia and Maluku Islands Chisocheton lasiogynus – Sumatra and western Java Chisocheton longistipitatus – New Guinea, Solomon Islands, and Queensland Chisocheton macranthus – northern Borneo and southern Philippines Chisocheton macrophyllus – Borneo, Peninsular Malaysia, Thailand, Sumatra, and Nicobar Islands Chisocheton maxilla-pisticis – Borneo and Philippines Chisocheton medusae – Borneo Chisocheton mendozai – Philippines (Samar) Chisocheton montanus – eastern New Guinea Chisocheton novobritannicus – Bismarck Archipelago Chisocheton patens – Myanmar, Thailand, Vietnam, Peninsular Malaysia, Sumatra, Java, Borneo, Sulawesi, and Philippines Chisocheton pauciflorus - Peninsular Malaysia Chisocheton pellegrinianus – Vietnam Chisocheton penduliflorus – Peninsular Malaysia and Peninsular Thailand Chisocheton pentandrus – Malesia and Thailand subsp. medius – Borneo and Philippines subsp. paucijugus – Peninsular Thailand, Peninsular Malaysia, Sumatra, Borneo, and Philippines subsp. pentandrus – Peninsular Thailand, Peninsular Malaysia, Borneo, Java, Philippines, Sulawesi, Lesser Sunda Islands, and Maluku Islands Chisocheton perakensis – Peninsular Malaysia Chisocheton pilosus – western New Guinea Chisocheton pohlianus – eastern New Guinea Chisocheton polyandrus – northern Borneo Chisocheton rex – Vanuatu Chisocheton ruber – Borneo (Sarawak) Chisocheton sapindinus – eastern New Guinea Chisocheton sarasinorum – northern and northeastern Borneo and Sulawesi Chisocheton sarawakanus – Peninsular Malaysia, Sumatra, and Borneo Chisocheton sayeri – New Guinea Chisocheton schoddei – southeastern New Guinea Chisocheton setosus – northern Borneo Chisocheton stellatus – New Guinea Chisocheton tenuis – eastern New Guinea Chisocheton tomentosus – Peninsular Malaysia and Peninsular Thailand Chisocheton velutinus – Borneo Chisocheton vindictae – northern Sumatra Chisocheton warburgii – northern Sulawesi and southeastern New Guinea
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