Stixis obtusifolia is a shrub or liana in the Resedaceae family. It is found in parts of Southeast Asia. The wood is used as fuel, the leaves as a tea.
Description This species grows as a deciduous shrub or liana. It has silvery stems and branches. Leaves are simple, the adult leaves are glabrous, though occasionally with a few hairs on the nerves. The gynophore is shorter than 5 mm and hairy, the ovary is glabrous.
Flowering occurs from November to March, fruiting from January to April.
Distribution This Southeast Asian species grows in the following countries: Cambodia, Laos, Thailand and Myanmar.
Habitat, ecology The plant grows in degraded formations.
In the vegetation communities alongside the Mekong in Kratie and Steung Treng Provinces, Cambodia, this taxa is rare in the degraded areas of the riverine community. It grows on soils derived from metamorphic sandstone bedrock, at altitude.
Vernacular names Aw krâpë (av kraboe, ao krâpoeu) (aw="skin", krâpë="crocodile", Khmer) is a name used in Cambodia.
Uses The wood furnishes firewood. The leaves can give a tea-like drink
History Henri Ernest Baillon (1827–1895), a French botanist and physician, described the species in 1887 in the journal (Paris).
Further reading Dy Phon, P. (2000). Dictionnaire des plantes utilisées au Cambodge: 1-915. chez l'auteur, Phnom Penh, Cambodia. T. Smitinand & K. Larsen, eds. (1987). Flora of Thailand 5: 1-470. The Forest Herbarium, Royal Forest Department.
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