Gen info
- Etymology: The genus name Aporosa derives from Greek apo meaning "away from", and oros meaning "mountain". The specific epithet frutescens is Latin, meaning "shrubby or bushy".

Botany
• A small, conical, dioecious tree up to 16 m tall and 35 cm in diameter, but usually much smaller; bark thin, finely flaky, pale brownish. Leaves alternate, simple, papery to thin-leathery, oblong to lanceolate, 6-20 cm √ó 2-6(-9) cm, acuminate, bearing 8-13 small glands along the margins; petiole 6-12 mm long. Flowers unisexual, minute; male flowers in densely flowered axillary, almost sessile, up to 2.5 cm long spikes, each flower with 2(-3) stamens; female flowers in fascicles, each flower with an ovoid-globose ovary. Fruit a subglobose capsule, 1-1.5 cm in diameter, shortly stalked, green to red, usually 3-seeded. Seeds flattened, surrounded by orange-red pulp.

• It is a tree up to 27 m tall with trunk up to 35 cm across. Foliage: Simple, alternate, stalked leaves have papery to thin leathery leaf blades that are narrowly egg-shaped to narrowly elliptic, greyish green to yellowish green when dried, and 6.5-20 by 1.5-7.5 cm. Its midrib is slightly prominent above and prominent below. Flowers: Male flowers are 0.3-0.7 mm long and grow in clusters of 1-4 on flowering shoots that are 5-22 mm long. Its female flowers are 1.5-3 mm long and grow on female flowering shoots that are 2-7 mm long. Its flowers are yellow. Fruits: Its fruits are round, yellow-orange-red, light or brownish-yellow when dried, 9-15 by 10-15 mm, and grow in clusters that are 3-11 mm long. Each fruit bears 2-4 seeds that are ellipsoid, covered with orange-red pulp, and 8-11 by 6-9 by 3-5 mm. (4)

Distribution
- Native to the Philippines.
- Also native to Borneo, Jawa, Malaya, Maluku, Myanmar, Sulawesi, Sumatera, Thailand. (1)
- It grows in primary, secondary, and disturbed forests, on hilltops, hillsides, hill ridges, along river banks, roads, lakes, and forest margins, up to 1500 m altitude. (4)

Properties
- Dye-fixing properties.

Parts used
Leaves, bark, roots.

Uses
Edibility
- Fruit is edible.
Folkloric
- Leaves, bark, and roots used for fever.
Others
- Mordant: Bark used as mordant in fixing the red dye of Morinda citrifolia. Used in the batik industry as mordant.
- Dye: Bark occasionally used to prepare a black dye.
- Timber: Wood is hard, yellow-brown; considered second-class. Used for house construction and tool making.

Studies
• No studies found.

Availability
Wild-crafted.

Additional Sources and Suggested Readings
(1)
Aporosa frutescens / KEW: Plants of the World Online
(2)
Aporosa frutescens / AsianPlantNet
(3)
Aporosa frutescens / C C H Jongkind / Pl@ntUse
(4)
Aporoso frutescens / National Parks: FLORA & FAUNA WEB

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)