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Buta-buta
or Blind-your-eye
Excoecaria agallocha
Family Euphorbiaceae |
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Roots
Male flowers
Female flowers
and fruits |
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Blinding
Tree: Buta-buta
has poisonous milky sap that blinds temporarily if it gets into the
eye. 'Buta' means 'blind' in Malay; the tree is also called 'Blind-your-eye'.
The sap can also cause blisters and skin irritation.
Buta-buta has small pointed leaves which are pinkish when young, turning
green as they mature. Old leaves turn bright red when they are about
to drop off. The tree often has multiple trunks.
Each tree bears either male or female flowers. So when they are in
bloom, the trees can look confusingly different! The tiny flowers
are wind pollinated. The little brown 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.
The tree grows further inland usually at the high water mark. It can
grow in both stony and muddy ground, and tolerates dry and salty conditions.
It grows quickly in open areas, but can also survive in the shade.
Human uses: Buta-buta is well
used by coastal communities. Some use the sap as an ingredient in
arrow poison, others to stun and catch fish. The timber is soft, white,
light with a fine grain and rots quickly. Nevertheless, in some places,
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. Various
parts of the tree is used in traditional medicine to treat sores and
stings from marine creatures. The tree is also 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.
Status and threats: Buta-buta
is still commonly seen in our mangroves. However, mangroves as a habitat
is threatened particularly on the mainland by development, reclamation
and other destructive human activities. |
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quick
facts
To about 20m tall, common in the mangroves. |
