Lamiaceae FAMILY

Gmelina elliptica

Edibility

0/5

Medicinal

2/5

Safety & Hazards

None known

Cultivation Details

HabitEvergreen Tree

Growth—

Succeeds in full sun or partial shade, preferring a moist but well-drained soil^[1]. Found in the wild on sandy, sandy loam or sandy clay soils, often poor; sometimes also found over basalt or limestone^[2]. Although we have seen no reports of invasiveness, there is a report that this shrubby, thorny tree could be a problem if introduced to islands where it is not native^[3].

Propagation

Seed - Air layering. Cuttings. Cite as: Tropical Plants Database, Ken Fern. tropical.theferns.info. 2026-02-20. <tropical.theferns.info/viewtropical.php?id=Gmelina+elliptica>

Pollinators

Data unavailable

References

[1]Encyclopedia of Tropical Plants - Identification and Cultivation of over 3,000 Tropical Plants — Ahmed Fayaz · Firefly Books Ltd.; New Zealand · 2011 · ISBN 978-1-55407-489 ↩︎A good photograph and terse but detailed information for over 3,000 species of tropical plants. An excellent reference.
[2]A revision of the genus Gmelina (Lamiaceae) — de Kok, Rogier · 2012 · http://www.researchgate.net/publication/236278737 · ISBN 1874-933X ↩︎A detailed revision, it also often gives plant uses. It can be downloaded from the Internet.
[3]Pacific Island Ecosystems at Risk — http://www.hear.org/pier/scientificnames/index.html ↩︎A very good website detailing weed species that have been introduced into the Pacific Islands.
[4]Plant Resources of Southeast Asia — http://proseanet.org/ ↩︎Lots of information on the uses of the plants of SE Asia.
[5]Plants of Southeast Asia — http://www.asianplant.net/ ↩︎Excellent site with brief information on the plant, its range, habitat and uses, plus phots of specimens, close-ops of flowers and leaves etc,