Baccaurea motleyana (Mull.Arg.) Mull.Arg., in DC. Prodr. 15, 2 (1866)

Named after J. Motley [?-1859], an British engineer who collected plants in Southeast Borneo.

Synonyms
Baccaurea pubescens Pax & K.Hoffm.
Pierardia motleyana Mull.Arg.

Description
Tree 8-26 m high, dbh 13-61 cm, buttresses short; branchlets densely hairy, Terminalia branching pattern weakly developed. Indumentum of simple hairs. Bark brown to red-brown to yellowish when fresh, thin, soft, scaly to flaky; inner bark cream, turning slightly reddish, hard. Leaves: petiole 23-84 mm long, densely hairy to velutinous, brown-grey when dry, raised glands absent; stipules 5-10 by 1.5-3.5 mm, glabrous to sparsely hairy outside, glabrous inside, midrib velutinous outside, margin ciliate, hya-line or not; lamina elliptic to obovate, 13.5-37 by 5.2-15 cm, l/w ratio 1.9-2.5, papery: base rounded to usually narrowly cordate; apex acute cuspidate, (0-)7-22 mm long; upper surface glabrous, not granulate, (dark) green when fresh, brown to green to grey when dry; lower surface densely hairy to sparsely hairy, midrib and secondary veins velutinous, raised glands absent, discoid glands absent, (dark) green when fresh, brown to green when dry; secondary veins 10-17 per side, open at margin; nervation scalariform; young leaves black when dry. Staminate inflorescences cauline to axillary, solitary to 5 clustered together, 2.5-24 cm long, up to 1.5 mm thick, velutinous, many- flowered, flowers scattered along inflorescence, greenish yellow; bracts persistent, elliptic, 1-2.5 mm long, 3 per branchlet, glabrous outside and inside, densely hairy at base inside, margin ciliate, not hyaline; bracteoles absent; branchlets absent to present, cylindrical, 0-3 mm long, densely hairy, 3-flowered. Staminate flowers 2-3 mm diam., green to yellow; pedicel 1.6-2.3 mm long, upper part 0.6-1.6 mm long, densely hairy; sepals 4 or 5, ovate, 0.7-1.4 by 0.5-1.4 mm, usually recurved, densely hairy outside and inside; stamens 5-10, 0.4-0.6 mm long, glabrous; ?laments 0.4-0.6 mm long, geniculate to straight; anthers c. 0.1 by 0.2 by 0.1 mm; disc present, c. 0.1 mm thick; pistillode obtriangular, 0.4-0.5 mm high, velutinous, hollow. Pistillate inflorescences ramiflorous to cauline, solitary to 5 clustered together, 13-42 cm long, 1-2.5 mm thick, velutinous, more than 30-flowered, greenish yellow; pedicel 2-5.5 mm long, upper part 0.2-1 mm long, densely hairy to velutinous; bracts 3 per branchlet, persistent, velutinous outside, glabrous to densely hairy inside, margin ciliate. Pistillate flowers 4-10 mm diam., green to yellow; sepals 4 or 5, ovate, 4-8 by 1.5-3.5 mm, densely hairy outside and inside, persistent; ovary globose, 1.6-2.6 by 1.7-2.9 mm, 3-locular, velutinous; style 0-0.4 by 0.8-1.2 mm wide, velutinous; stigmas 0.5-1 mm long, glabrous above and below, persistent. Fruits globose to ellipsoid, 3-seeded berries, 22-45 by 15-25 by c. 25 mm, raised glands present, glabrous to densely hairy outside, glabrous inside, greenish yellow to white; pericarp 0.5-1.5 mm thick; column 18-23 mm long, straight, caducous; pedicel 4-10 mm long, upper part 1-2 mm long. Seeds ellipsoid, laterally flattened, 13-20 by 9-14.5 by 2.5-4 mm; arillode translucent white to rarely purple; cotyledons 5-9 by 5-9 by c. 0.1 mm; radicle 2-3 mm long. [from Blumea Suppl. 12: 1--216 (2000)]

Ecology
In disturbed sites in mixed dipterocarp forest or open scrub-vegetation up to 500 m altitude. Mostly on alluvial sites, but also on hillsides. On sandy to clay soils.

Uses
Sap from the stem is used as a medicine against sore-eyes. The fruits are edible. Trees are often cultivated in forest gardens or within villages.

Distribution
Peninsular Thailand, Peninsular Malaysia, Sumatra, Java, Borneo, Moluccas.

Local names
Borneo Bua trai, Pekang, Rambai, Ramei, Ulup lavae.
Peninsular Malaysia Rambai.
Sumatra Rambai.