Gen info
- Pterocymbium tinctorium is a tropical tree species in the family Malvaceae, subfamily Sterculioideae. (previously placed in the family Sterculiaceae).

Botany
• A large deciduous tree, 30-42 m tall; buttress absent; stem 70-85 cm diameter, tapering, no branches for more than half its length, looks white from far; outer bark gray, usually smooth or with small horizontal ridges, finely fissured vertically; inner bark brown red, laminate; sapwood slightly pinkish to white; terminal branches smooth to striate, lenticels absent. Petiole brown, 2-8 cm long, glabrous; stipules caduceus. Leaves spirally arranged; lamina thinly papery, cordate to ovate, base cordate to truncate, apex acute to acuminate, 7-13.5 × 4-6 cm, glabrous above, pilose below, with 5-7 palmate basal veins, shiny, margin entire, midrib raised; young ones usually lobed, dark green, densely pubescent. Inflorescence a lax, erect, terminal panicle, 5-12 cm long, with dense stellate hairs. Flower unisexual, with male and female flowers on the same plant stalked, in clusters of 3-5, bellshaped, 5-lobed; bract caduceus to semi-persistent, outer surface with stellate hairs, inner surface glabrous; male flower: not seen; female flowers: yellowish white, 5-lobed. Fruit of 4-6 follicles, within a persistent calyx, pendulous, dehiscing before ripening; follicle papery, winged, boatshaped, 6-9.2 cm long, inner surface of wing glabrous with some red dots, outer surface glabrous or with very sparse stellate hairs, inner surface shiny, outer surface look dull, with a prominent dorsal lobe. Seed 1 at base of each follicle, solitary, ellipsoid, 1.5-1.8 × 1.1-1.2 cm, outer surface rough, wrinkled, cotyledon 2, pale yellow, and smooth, between the two a yellow wooly substance is interposed. (2)

Distribution
- Native to the Philippines. (1)
- Also native to Andaman Is., Assam, Borneo, Cambodia, Jawa, Laos, Malaya, Maluku, Myanmar, Nicobar Is., Sulawesi, Thailand, Vietnam. (1)
- Common on alluvial flats; also in evergreen, deciduous or open forests, at elevations up to 1000 meters.

Constituents
No studies found.

Properties
• Caution: Many sites mention that the bark and fruits are poisonous. (I have not found toxicity studies on any part of Pterocymbium tinctorium.)

Parts used
Bark.

Uses
Edibility
- Mention made of bark use as appetizer. (7) (Caution: Mention also made of bark and fruits being poisonous)
Folkloric
- In Zamboanga del Sur, the Subanen tribe of Lapuyan apply poultice of trunk scrapings on fresh wounds. (5)
- In Indonesia, decoction of pounded and boiled bark drunk for headaches, fever, body pains, and rheumatism. (4) Bark used for urinary tract problems. (3)
Others
- Fiber: Bark yields a fiber; strips of bark used for making rope.
- Dye: Yields tannin; bark used to improve black dyeing of cotton cloth.
- Wood: White, light and soft; perishable;used for construction, making matches, veneer, floats and pulp. Wood is sometimes traded internationally.

Studies
• No studies found.

Availability
Wild-crafted.

Additional Sources and Suggested Readings
(1)
Pterocymbium tinctorium / KEW: Plants of the World Online
(2)
Pterocymbium tinctorium (Merrill, 1901) (Magnoliophyta: Malvales: Sterculiaceae: Sterculioideae): New record from mainland India and extension of geographic distribution / Bikarma Singh, Dibyendu Adhikari, Saroj Kanta Barik, Arun Chettri / CheckList, 2013; 9(3): pp 622-625 / ISSN: 1809-127X
(3)
Ethnobotanical study of medicinal plants used for treating urinary tract problems in eastern Indonesia / U Nisa, P R W Astana, A Triyono et al / IOP Conf Series: Earth and Environmental Science 905, 2021: 012119 / DOI:  10.1088/1755-1315/905/1/012119
(4)
Ethnobotany of Medicinal Plants in the Jalawastu Cultural Village Community, Brebes, Central Java, Indonesia / Umi Nihayatul Khusna, Jumari Jumari, Erma Prihastanti / Egyptian Journal of Botany, 2023; 63(2): pp 457-474 / DOI: 10.21608/ejbo.2022.166112.2156
(5)
Ethnobotany of Medicinal Plants Used by the Subanen Tribe of Lapuyan, Zamboanga del Sur / Jhoan Rhea L Pizon, Olga M Nuñeza, Mylene M Uy, WTPSK Senarath / Bulletin of Environment, Pharmacology and Life Sciences, 2016; 5(5): pp 53-67 / eISSN: 2277-1808
(6)
Pterocymbium tinctorium / Wikipedia
(7)
Indigenous knowledge of medicinal plants used by ethnic communities of South India / Santhosh Kumar, Krishna Chaitanya, Andrew J Semotiuk, V Krishna / Ethnobotany Research & Applications, 2019; 18(4) /
DOI: 10.17348/era/18.4.1-112

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)