Barringtonia racemosa (L.) Spreng.

An interesting article for our members by Sarah Nabila Binti Rosli (Main Author), Ruth Kiew (Editor) & Lee Su See (Editor) in 

Malaysia Biodiversity Information System (MyBIS)

https://www.mybis.gov.my/

Barringtonia racemosa is a common shrub to medium-sized tree commonly known as putat ayam or putat kampung. The genus name, Barringtonia, commemorates Daines Barrington, who was a nobleman, lawyer, and also a naturalist who wrote a book on English trees (Nicholson, 1991). The epithet, racemosa, refers to the unbranched and continuous inflorescences. This genus is also distinguished by the absence of stipules and by its large berry fruit. Another characteristic of this genus is the arrangement of the leaves, which are whorled or clustered at the end of the branches.

It is distributed from Africa through the Pacific islands including the Solomons, Fiji and Samoa, Asia including India, Sri Lanka, Myanmar, Thailand, China, Malesia, to Australia. It is widely distributed in the Philipppines, Peninsular Malaysia and Borneo. It favours open areas with high humidity, for example, along river banks, or coastal areas. This species is the most widespread genus of Barringtonia and is considered of Least Concern (LC), conservation-wise (Prance, 2012).

The Lecythidaceae family is known for the large size of its flowers with a large number of stamens. Barringtonia is recognized by having attractive and long inflorescences, which can reach up to 100 cm and give the plant a most unique appearance. The flowers are white to pale pinkish and strongly scented. They bloom at night but survive for only one night. Bats are important pollinators for this species.

Most parts of the tree contain saponins which are naturally occurring plant glycosides that are poisonous. The seed is usually used medicinally for various ailments and diseases since it contains the highest concentration of glycosides. The extract of all parts of the plant may be used as an insecticide. In the Philippines, the fruit is used to poison wild pigs (Burkill, 1966). However, the young leaves are not poisonous, and the local Kelantanese eat it as a vegetable or ulam. In the past, the tannin yielded from the bark was used as a natural red dye to colour leather goods (Burkill, 1930).

References

1. Burkill I.H. & Haniff M. (1930). Malay Village Medicine. The Gardens' Bulletin, Straits Settlements6: pp. 201
2. Burkill I.H., Birtwistle W., Foxworthy F.W., Scrivenor J.B. & Watson J.G.. (1966). A Dictionary of the Economic Products of the Malay Peninsula (A-H) (2nd ed.). Ministry of Agriculture and cooperatives, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
3. Nicholson G. (1991). Encyclopaedia of Plants. New Delhi: Anmol Publications, India. pp. 159.
4. Prance G.T. (2012). Lecythidaceae. In Kiew R., Chung R.C.K., Saw L.G. & Soepadmo E. (eds.) Flora of Peninsular Malaysia, Series II: Seed Plants (pp. 203). Forest Research Institute Malaysia (FRIM).

Published on 17 May 2018. Updated by Mr. Abdul Razak Mohd Nor Rasid & Ms. Ajla Rafidah Baharom

We've got some fun activities planned for this year's coming school holidays! Check out our Holidays Activity Planner below and join us with your family!

Chinese New Year 2018

Wishing all our friends, volunteers and members a Happy and Prosperous Chinese New Year 2018. May the new year bring you joy, good luck and great health.

Please be informed that our office will be closed from Thursday 15 February to 17 February 2018 for the festival.

Painting T-shirts and Bags 27 Jan 2018

More members turned up for a painting session at our Outreach premises on Saturday. Two types of painting technique were tried out by the members.

A small cotton twill bag was painted with a blue lotus, using Western watercolour techniques and our usual T-shirt dyes. The lotus was quickly and lightly sketched on with a 2B pencil before the colours were added and then blended with water. The blue, rather than the usual red or pink lotus, was chosen as the bag was painted at the request of a non-member. The picture shows the first stages of the painting on the bag, before the colours were blended.

Two other members tried their hand at the Chinese one-stroke freehand brush technique to paint simple plum blossoms for the coming festival. The ladies practised on bits of newspaper and scrap cloth first before starting on their T-shirts.It's important for beginners to learn to loosen their arms and shoulders first by working of disposable media so that there is less tension when they commit the dye to cloth. 

When we teach children, the emphasis is always on the fact that there is no such thing as a wrong stroke or a mistake. We always try to encourage children to see their strokes as opportunities to interprete creatively so that there is no pressure for them to "draw" or "colour correctly". 

When painting directly on to T-shirts with indelible dyes, it's important that the student feels confident to paint confidently so that he or she can work freely. Some people call this freehand technique the spirit or "chi" of the brush and an experienced painter can tell how loose and relaxed the painter was with just one glance at how the picture was formed.

Painted Monkey Cup 13.01018

Saturday was a busy day with our member, Ann Loh, dropping by to try out a western-watercolour T-shirt painting technique. 

We started with a quick line sketch of monkey cups or pitcher plants (Nepenthes macfarlanei) from a painting by artist Marni Zainodin using a fine brown fabric pen. Once the ink lines were dry (so that the fabric colouring dye wouldn't blot) Ann started painting the lightest shades and colours with quick washes. We used a hairdryer to dry the initial washes quickly before Ann could add the medium tones and colours.

We took a short break while waiting for the dye to dry and then Ann finished off the painting with the darkest greens and purples on the plants. The entire process took nearly three hours but it was worth it, don't you think?

We have classes for T-shirt printing with local leaves and flowers, painting in both Chinese spontaneous single stroke watercolour and western watercolour techniques as well as bottle recycling every Saturday from 1.00pm to 4.00pm for members of the public. 

Please call our Outreach office or email us to book lessons with us.

Senduduk Herbal Uses

Did you know that our common Senduduk (Melastoma malabathricum) or Straits Rhododendron has as many as 2000 species? In Malaysia, however, only 12 species have been discovered although botanists believe that there are more waiting to be found in the still forested areas of our country. The common deep purple one which we see in Malaysia actually many herbal uses in Indian, Malay, Chinese and Indonesian folk medicine. Its leaves, shoots, bark, seeds and roots are all possessed of special properties which are used by folk medicinal practitioners to relieve such things as inflamation and diarrhoea. However, the Senduduk also has cytotoxic, antioxidant and wound healing properties.

One of the plants in the Melastomataceae family that are commonly used in Malay folk medicine is Melastoma malabathricum Linn., which actually comprises two subspecies. Commonly found in lowland as well as mountain forests, cleared land and even by the road side, the Senduduk can range from a deep purple to a delicate pink or a creamy white. Its native names are many, for example in Chinese it is called the ye mu dan while in Malaysia, it is also sometimes called the Kenduduk though there are even more local names for it in Indonesia. Locally, it has been used traditionally to treat diarrhoea, dysentery, haemorrhoids, cuts and wounds, toothache, stomachache, flatulence, and even sore legs. Some sources have said that it is one of the components of the famous Chinese po chi wan, which are usually used to treat stomach aches and diarrhoea.  

Usually, the leaves are chewed up, pounded and applied as a paste on cuts or wounds or else they are finely chopped up and squeezed to let the juice fall onto wounds to stop bleeding. In Indian folk medicine, the leaves can also be used to prevent scarring from smallpox, to treat dysentery, aw well as piles The shoots are also said to be eaten as a cure for high blood pressure and diabetes. In the old days, the juice from the shoots were used as a mouthwash to relieve a toothache while the leaves were used for treat ulcers, scars, pimples and blackheads on the skin. 

At our Outreach centre, we use Senduduk flowers, leaves and stalks to make pretty prints on t-shirts and bags. It is not an easy art for beginners to master, however, so we have classes on Saturday for those who would like to learn.

Bottle Craft 23.12.17

This month's members' Activity being so close to Christmas, we decided to do something in keeping with the spirit of the season and had a small workshop on how to turn old bottles and jam jars into pretty desk caddies. 

Our activity began at 9.30 as usual, but because of the inclement weather there was only a small turn out for the event. Everyone had fun, however, discovering the most easily available materials to re-cycle with their old bottles.

From old jam jars to scraps of old curtain fabric and bits of left-over parcel string, the members were shown how to cover the jars and bottles with string or old non-slip matting to create a suitable surface for painting or gluing things.

The bottles and jars were decorated with old curtain fabric scraps that had been cut into leaf and petal shapes and bits of old tinsel or string ends.