Gen info
- Polyscias is a genus of flowering plants in the family Araliaceae. In 2003, a published checklist and nomenclator for Araliaceae listed 116 species for Polyscias. (2)

Botany
Malapapaya is a tall tree reaching a height of about 25 m and a diameter of 50 cm. Bole is very long, cylindrical, with no buttresses or with very low, simple, rounded and inconspicuous buttresses. Outer bark is whitish or creamy white. Leaves are crowded on the twig apices, widely spreading downward, simple pinnate, 1-2 cm long, with 14-20 pairs of leaflets. Leaflet is ovate-oblong to lanceolate with short acuminate base, crenate-serrate margins, 10-25 cm long and 4-10 cm wide. Inflorescences are panicles about 1.5 cm long with sessile, yellow-green flowers about 2 cm long. Fruits are subglobose, ridged and yellowish, with a red persistent calyx, and five-ribbed when dry. (4)

Distribution
- Native to the Philippines.
- Found in Benguet, Pangasinan, Zambales, Rizal, Bulacan, Laguna, Mindoro, Palawan, Leyte, Surigao, and Basilan.
- In open thickets and secondary growth forests at low and medium altitudes. Also in moist areas along gullies and creeks.
- Native to Java, Lesser Sunda Is., Maluku, New Guinea, Queensland, Solomon Is. (1)

Constituents
- Study of dichlormethane extract of Polyscias nodosa yielded squalene (1). phytyl fatty acid esters (2), lutein (3), ß-sitosteryl-3∂-glucopyranoside-6'-0-palmitate (4) from the leaves; and 1,triacylglycerols (5), and a mixture of stigmasterol (6a) and ß-sitosterol (6b) in a 5:1 ratio from the twigs. (5)

Properties
- Considered febrifuge and contraceptive.

Parts used
Leaves

Uses
Folkloric
- Leaves used for purpuric fever.
- Reported use of leaves as contraceptive.
Others
- Fish poison: Powdered leaves used as fish poison.
- Wood: A good source for the manufacture of plywood and veneer, wooden shoes, handicrafts and a variety of common-use products (matchsticks, popsicle sticks, toothpicks, chopsticks, ice cream spoons).It is a good replacement for non-biodegradable food containers.
- Agroforestry: Useful for the reforestation of denuded forest areas.

Studies
• Phytochemical Study / Leaves and Twigs: See study above.

Availability
Wild-crafted.

Additional Sources and Suggested Readings
(1)
Polyscias nodosa / KEW: Plants of the World Online
(2)
Polyscias / Wikipedia
(3)
Growing malapapaya, Polyscias nodosa (Blume) Seeman, and environmentally, economically and friendly source of livvelihood / AGRIS
(4)
Malapapaya / Philippine Flora
(5)
Chemical constituents of Polyscias nodosa / C. R. Ragasa, V D Ebajo, S. Urban et al / Research Journal of Pharmaceutical, Biological, and Chemical Sciences, 2015; 6(5): pp 1210-1214

DOI: It is not uncommon for links on studies/sources to change. Copying and pasting the information on the search window or using the DOI (if available) will often redirect to the new link page. (Citing and Using a (DOI) Digital Object Identifier)