Portia Tree

Thespesia populnea

Origin: India

Improvement status: Wild

Seeds per packet: ~20

BOTANICAL SAMPLE - NOT GERMINATION TESTED

Life cycle: Perennial

Also called Pacific rosewood or Indian tulip tree, portia tree is a tropical mallow-family tree with a wide distribution and similarly wide range of uses. This plant, with its shiny round leaves and hibiscus-like flowers, is familiar to most people who live in a tropical coastal area, because its floating seeds and ocean currents have dispersed this plant literally around the world. Botanists still debate its native range (some think it shouldn't be considered native to the Americas, but others disagree), but it seems likeliest that it originated somewhere between Hawaii and India in either the Pacific or Indian Ocean. It was also likely a "canoe plant", spread intentionally by Polynesian sailors as they made their way across the Pacific from Asia to South America.

EFN co-founder Nate Kleinman first knowingly encountered this tree in the mountains of San Lorenzo, Puerto Rico, where a self-described "brujo" sold him a potted portria tree which he called "la frescura" ("the freshness"). He also said he ate one leaf from the tree every day as a tonic for overall health. It took Nate a while to figure out the identity of the plant, which survived for quite a long time (even as he occasionally munched on its fresh mild-flavored leaves). A Peperomia species with superficially similar leaves also sometimes goes by the name "la frescura", so that threw him off the scent for a while, but eventually he realized it was a portia tree — largely thanks to his old friend Eliot Ballard, who brought portia tree seeds back from St. Croix and sprouted something Nate recognized immediately as the Puerto Rican "frescura."

It's no surprise that the man in San Lorenzo considers portia tree a general tonic. It's traditional medicinal uses around the world are almost countless. Here's a brief summary from Plants for a Future (see PFAF.org for the citations and links associated with all of these assertions): "Portia tree is often used in traditional medicine, where the bark, root, leaves, flowers and fruits are all used to treat a range of ailments. There has been some research into its properties, which tends to support these traditional uses. The heartwood contains several sesquiterpenoid quinones, including mansonone D and H, thespone and thespesone, which are known to induce contact dermatitis, but also to inhibit tumour formation and to have antifungal properties. The heartwood and other plant parts contain gossypol. The fruits and leaves contain compounds with antibacterial activity, whereas methanolic extracts of the flower buds have shown antifungal activity. Ethanol extracts of the flower have shown antihepatotoxic activity. Aqueous extracts of the fruit have shown wound-healing activity in rats after topical or oral administration. The seed oil has anti-amoebic activity. The heartwood is carminative. It is useful in treating pleurisy, cholera, colic and high fevers. The fruit juice is used to treat herpes. The crushed fruit is used in a treatment for urinary tract problems and abdominal swellings. The cooked fruit, crushed in coconut oil, provides a salve, which, if applied to the hair, will kill lice. An extract of the fruit is applied to swollen testicles. A leaf tea is taken as a treatment for rheumatism and urinary retention. A decoction of the leaves is used in treating coughs, influenza, headache and relapses in illnesses. The leaf sap, and decoctions of most parts of the plant, are used externally to treat various skin diseases. Juices from the pounded fruits, mixed with pounded leaves are used in a poultice to treat headaches and itches. A decoction of the bark and fruit is mixed with oil and used to treat scabies. A decoction of the astringent bark is used to treat dysentery and haemorrhoids, and a maceration of it is drunk for colds. A cold infusion of the bark is used in treating dysentery, diabetes, gonorrhoea, yellow urine, and thrush. Indigestion, pelvic infection, dysmenorrhoea, infertility, secondary amenorrhoea, appetite loss, ulcers and worms are also treated with the bark. The inner bark is used to treat constipation and typhoid. The stem is employed in treating breast cancer. Other extracts of the plant have significant antimalarial activity. Leaf and bark decoctions are taken as a remedy for high blood pressure. Seeds are purgative."

Did you get all that?! But those are just the medicinal uses!

Here are the non-medicinal uses the fine people at PFAF have learned about: "The tree is valuable as a coastal windbreak because it is highly resistant to wind and salt spray and grows well in sandy, saline soils. Because of this tolerance of saline conditions, the plant is suitable for coastal erosion control, and is planted for this purpose, often as a living fence, in Karnataka, India and the Pacifci Islands. It has been planted to provide support for vanilla plants [climbing orchids!]. Chippings of the plant have been tried as a green manure. The tough, fibrous bark yields a strong fibre used for cordage, fishing lines, coffee bags and for caulking boats. An oil is obtained from the seed which can be used in lamps The wood, soaked in water, yields a solution that is used in Asia to dye wool deep brown. The fruit and flowers yield a water-soluble yellowish dye. A black dye can be obtained from the leaves. The bark is a source of tannins. A gum is obtained from the fruit and flowers. A thick gum, which is not soluble in water, is obtained from the bark. The leaves are used for wrapping food. The heartwood is reddish brown to dark brown or black, often with purple veining; it is sharply demarcated from the 1-2cm wide band of white to pale yellow or pale pink sapwood that darkens upon exposure. The wood is fine-grained; medium to fine-textured; it shows slight ribbon figure on quartersawn faces. Freshly cut wood has a rose-like smell. The wood is strong, hard, light to medium in weight; very durable, even when in contact with water or the ground, and resistant to insect attack. It seasons well, and does not warp or check; shrinkage upon seasoning is very low to low. The wood is easy to saw and work, despite its wavy grain; it turns well in both green and dry conditions; can be finished to an attractive polish; paints well; glueing properties are poor to medium. The wood contains an oil which slows down drying of varnishes. A very handsome and valuable wood, looking somewhat like chocolate and vanilla swirled together, it is used for a wide range of purposes where quality is more important than size, including traditional bowls, art objects, gunstocks, jewelry, furniture, plates and utensils, horse-drawn carts, wheelbarrows, and canoe paddles. It is also used for light construction, flooring molds, musical instruments, utensils and vehicle bodies. Since it is very durable under water, it is popular for boat building. The wood is used for fuel."

Whoa. Now that's one heckuva plant!

Did I mention it actually does really well as a houseplant too?

GROWING TIPS: Thrives best in USDA Zones 9-11. Can be grown as houseplant. Seeds need no stratification, but online sources say they tend to have a hard seedcoat, so germination may be improved by rubbing seeds with sandpaper before planting. That said, we've sprouted seeds with no pre-treatment just by putting them in some soil and watering them.

These India-grown seeds were imported by the good folks at Sheffield's Seeds in Locke, NY.