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Altingia excelsa
Hamamelidaceae FAMILY

Altingia excelsa

Altingia excelsa

Edibility
2/5
Medicinal
2/5

Safety & Hazards

None known

Cultivation Details

HabitEvergreen Tree
Growth—

A plant of the moist tropics, where it is found at elevations from 500 - 1,700 metres[1, 2]. It grows best in areas where annual daytime temperatures are within the range 20 - 32°c, but can tolerate 10 - 40°c[2]. It prefers a mean annual rainfall in the range 2,000 - 3,000mm, but tolerates 1,200 - 4,000mm[2]. Grows best in a sunny or lightly shaded position[2]. Succeeds in most fertile, well-drained soils, preferably of a medium to heavy texture[2]. Prefers a pH in the range 5 - 6, tolerating 4.5 - 6.5[2]. In the warmer, moist tropics, the plant can flower and fruit all year round[3, 1]. The seeds are sweetly scented and are dispersed by ants and, to a lesser extent, by monkeys and birds that feed on the seeds[3].

Propagation

Seed - it has a short period of viability and is best sown as soon as it is ripe. It is best soaked in cold water for 24 hours prior to sowing. The sowing medium is a mix of sand and soil (1 : 1). Germination starts about 10 days after sowing. One month old seedlings can be transplanted to plastic bags, preferably in a growing medium enriched with organic matter and fertilizer[1]. Cite as: Tropical Plants Database, Ken Fern. tropical.theferns.info. 2026-02-19. <tropical.theferns.info/viewtropical.php?id=Altingia+excelsa>

Pollinators

Wind?

References

  1. [1]Seed Leaflets — Various · Forest & Landscape. Denmark · http://en.sl.life.ku.dk/Publikationer/Udgivelser/PopulaerPublikationer.aspx?katid={D28373CC-6EF3-4EF8-B097-6D83FABF209E}&serieid={9F1C3DB1-6E7B-4CF1-AF53-F480B0CB40EF}&sort=title ↩︎A series of leaflets, jointly produced by the University of Copenhagen and the Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew, focussing on seed information for a number species, but also giving a lot of other information about each plant.
  2. [2]Ecocrop — http://ecocrop.fao.org/ecocrop/srv/en/home ↩︎Basic information on a wide range of useful plants, plus details of environmental needs where available.
  3. [3]World Agroforesty Centre — http://www.worldagroforestry.org/ ↩︎An excellent online database of a huge range of trees giving very good information on each plant - its uses, ecology, identity, propagation, pests etc.
  4. [4]Flora of China — Missouri Botanical Garden Press; St. Louis. · 1994 · http://flora.huh.harvard.edu/china/ ↩︎An excellent, comprehensive resource in 25 volumes. In addition to the botanical information the flora also gives basic information on habitat and some uses. An on-line version is also available.
  5. [5]Dictionary of Economic Plants. — Uphof. J. C. Th. · Weinheim · 1959 · ISBN - ↩︎An excellent and very comprehensive guide but it only gives very short descriptions of the uses without any details of how to utilize the plants. Not for the casual reader.
  6. [6]Handbook of Ayurvedic Medicinal Plants — Kapoor. L. D. · CRC Press, Florida. · 2001 · ISBN 0-8493-2929-9 ↩︎A very detailed book on some of the key Ayurvedic herbs, giving both technical and non-technical information on each plant. The whole is very well referenced.
  7. [7]Flora Medica — Lindley J. · Longman, Orme, Brown, Green and Longmans: London · 1838 · http://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/ ↩︎A massive work - many of the botanical names have changed, but the book is still a wealth of information.
  8. [8]The Commercial Products of India. — Watts. Sir George. · John Murray, London. · 1908 ↩︎A classic, with a comprehensive (as then known) listing of useful plants that were traded commercially at that time. It can be downloaded from various sites on the Internet.