Preferred Common Name  : portia tree
International Common Names :
    English: bendytree; cork tree; Indian tulip tree; large-leaved tulip tree; Pacific rosewood; Polynesian rosewood; portia tree; seaside mahoe; Seychelles rosewood; tulip tree; tuliptree; umbrella tree

Thespesia populnea is an Old World, tropical, coastal species that is often found in and around mangroves. Its buoyant and hardy seed is adapted for oceanic dispersal. It is an attractive ornamental with valued reddish-brown heartwood, but forms dense thickets and reproduces profusely. Widely naturalized in Central America, northern South America, the Caribbean islands and Florida (USA), it is listed as an invasive species in the Bahamas, Florida and Puerto Rico. On Saint John, United States Virgin Islands, T. populnea has been reported to encroach on beaches where threatened sea turtles nest.  

Plant Type :
Broadleaved
Perennial
Seed propagated
Shrub
Tree
Vegetatively propagated
Woody


Economic Value

T. populnea trees are the source of beautiful, strong and hard ‘milo’ wood that is highly valued on Pacific islands. The heartwood is reddish brown to dark or chocolate brown often with purple veining, contrasting sharply (and attractively) with the sapwood which is 1 to 2 cm-wide white to pale yellow or pale pink, darkening to light brown on exposure. Freshly cut wood has a rose-like smell. The grain is wavy to shallowly interlocked, medium to fine texture, with a slight ribbon figure on quarter-sawn faces. It is moderately heavy with a specific gravity of 0.6, 770 kg/m³ at 12% moisture content. It seasons well and does not warp or check, with low shrinkage, 3.8% radial and 6.9% tangential from green to oven dry, and movement in service is very low. The wood is easy to saw and work with hand and machine tools; it turns well when both green and dry, takes a fine polish and paints well.

It is very durable even when in contact with water or the ground, resistant to drywood termites but not to marine borers, and is used for making boats and furniture, but especially as a carving wood and for turnery


Social Benefit

Flowers and young leaves are reported to be eaten and are listed as famine foods, though other reports indicate that they are mildly poisonous. In some Pacific Islands it is regarded as a sacred tree and was cultivated around temples. Elsewhere, it is planted as a street tree and ornamental and, producing dense shade and much leaf litter, it is also used as a living fence (Little and Skolmen, 1989). Foliage is also used as fodder. Rope is made from the tough fibrous bark, which also contains up to 7% tannin and is used for curing leather. A fruit extract is used as a dye, seeds contain oil, and all plant parts are used to prepare traditional medicines

Uses
Animal feed, fodder, forage
    Fodder/animal feed

Environmental

    Agroforestry
    Amenity
    Boundary, barrier or support
    Erosion control or dune stabilization
    Landscape improvement
    Shade and shelter
    Soil conservation
    Windbreak

Fuels
    Fuelwood

General
    Sociocultural value

Genetic importance
    Test organisms (for pests and diseases)

Human food and beverage
    Honey/honey flora
    Leaves (for beverage)

Materials
    Bark products
    Carved material
    Dyestuffs
    Fibre
    Tanstuffs

Medicinal, pharmaceutical
    Traditional/folklore