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Maesopsis eminii
Rhamnaceae FAMILY

Maesopsis eminii

Maesopsis eminii

Edibility
2/5
Medicinal
2/5

Safety & Hazards

None known

Cultivation Details

HabitSemi-deciduous Tree
GrowthFast

A plant of moist, mainly lowland tropical areas, growing best at elevations from 600 - 900 metres, but extending into submontane forest at elevations up to 1,800 metres[1]. It grows best in areas where annual daytime temperatures are within the range 22 - 28°c, but can tolerate 16 - 36°c[2]. It prefers a mean annual rainfall in the range 1,500 - 2,500mm, but tolerates 1,200 - 3,000mm[2]. It can tolerate a dry season of up to 4 months[1]. Seedlings can survive under the forest canopy for a few months, however, to grow and reach canopy height, they require the light that comes from large canopy gaps[3]. Tolerates a wide range of site conditions, including poor, light soils, but grows best on deep, moist and fertile sandy loam soils with a neutral to acid pH[1, 4]. Prefers a pH in the range 5.5 - 7, tolerating 4.5 - 7.5[2]. The tree grows rapidly, especially when young, with 1 - 3 metres increase in height per year and 15 - 55mm in diameter[5]. In Malaysia, it has reached a height of 20 metres in 6 years[5]. Trees usually start flowering and fruiting when 4 - 5 years old[4]. A remarkably long lived tree for a pioneer species, attaining an age of over 150 years[1]. When young, the tree is naturally self-pruning, losing lower branches that can be up to 5cm in diameter at their base[3]. Older trees lose this ability[3]. Established plants can be coppiced successfully[1]. Rotations in plantations are kept at 30 - 40 years, as older trees are often wind thrown[1]. Rotations are about 8 years for fuel wood, poles and pulp production[1].

Propagation

Seed - best sown as soon as possible because it rapidly loses viability[5]. To improve germination, seeds may be soaked in water for 1 - 2 days, or in concentrated sulphuric acid for 20 minutes[1]. Even when treated, seed can take 4 months or more for 65 - 80% of the seed to germinate[4]. Because the seedlings quickly form a taproot, it is usually recommended to sow the seed in polybags[4]. If sown in seedbeds, the seedlings need to be potted up as soon as they are large enough to handle[4]. Young plants can normally be planted out into their permanent positions when about 2 - 4 months old[4]. Seed storage behaviour is orthodox; viability can be maintained for 1 year at cool temperatures with dry seeds; viability is maintained for several years in hermetic storage at 3°c with 4-9% mc[1]. Cite as: Tropical Plants Database, Ken Fern. tropical.theferns.info. 2026-02-20. <tropical.theferns.info/viewtropical.php?id=Maesopsis+eminii>

Pollinators

Data unavailable

References

  1. [1]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.
  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]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. [4]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.
  5. [5]Plant Resources of Southeast Asia — http://proseanet.org/ ↩︎Lots of information on the uses of the plants of SE Asia.
  6. [6]Tropical Timbers of the World. Ag. Handbook No. 607. — Chudnoff. Martin. · USDA Forest Service. Wisconsin. · 1984 ↩︎Terse details on the properties of the wood of almost 400 species of trees from the Tropics.
  7. [7]Mansfeld's Database of Agricultural and Horticultural Plants — http://mansfeld.ipk-gatersleben.de/pls/htmldb_pgrc/f?p=185:3:4292127278597336 ↩︎Terse details of a huge range of useful plants.