Lauraceae FAMILY Least Concern
Litsea elliptica
Litsea elliptica
Edibility
2/5
Medicinal
3/5
Safety & Hazards
None known
Cultivation Details
HabitTree
Growth—
The bark, wood, leaves and fruits are aromatic and reminiscent of the smell of a species of giant water bug (Lethocerus indicus), which is also used as a flavouring material in the 'Nam Prik, mentioned in 'Edible Uses'[1]. Plants can flower all year round[2]. A dioecious species, both male and female forms need to be grown if fruit and seed are required[2].
Propagation
Seed - Cite as: Tropical Plants Database, Ken Fern. tropical.theferns.info. 2026-02-20. <tropical.theferns.info/viewtropical.php?id=Litsea+elliptica>
Pollinators
Insects
References
- [1]Thai Forest Bulletin (Botany) No. 39 — Thawatchai Santisuk (Editor) · The Forest Herbarium (BKF); Chatuchak, Bangkok. · 2011 · ISBN 0495-3843 ↩︎A botanical journal, publishing papers on taxonomy (especially vascular plants), nomenclature, phylogeny, systematics, plant geography, and floristics; also morphology, palynology, cytotaxonomy, chemotaxonomy, anatomy and other relevant disciplines.
- [2]A revision of Litsea (Lauraceae) in Peninsular Malaysia and Singapore — Kok R.P.J. de · 2021 · http://10.26492/gbs73(1).2021-07 ↩︎A very detailed treatment of the species
- [3]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,
- [4]Timber Notes - Light Hardwoods II — Gan K.S.; Lim S.C.; Choo K.T. · Forest Research Institute; Malaysia · 1998 · ISBN 139-258 ↩︎Part of an excellent series of publications, this one giving a brief guide to five lesser known groups of light hardwoods from southeast Asia. It is available in PDF format on the Internet.
- [5]IUCN Red List of Threatened Species — http://www.iucnredlist.org/ ↩︎A list of plants under threat and facing possible extinction, usually with brief details of the threats and information on habitat.