Cratoxylum formosum

Cratoxylum formosum
Conservation status
Least Concern (IUCN 2.3)
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
(unranked):	Angiosperms
(unranked):	Eudicots
(unranked):	Rosids
Order:	Malpighiales
Family:	Hypericaceae
Genus:	Cratoxylum
Species:	C. formosum
Binomial name
Cratoxylum formosum Benth. & Hook. f. ex Dyer

Cratoxylum formosum or pink mempat is a species of flowering plant in the Hypericaceae family. Its commercial name in timber production is "mampat" ^[1].

It is a tropical plant found in Brunei, Burma, Cambodia, China, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam. The trees flower when there is dry weather followed by wet weather than dry weather again. It has pink flowers and can be up to 20 meters tall, though they rarely achieve the size required for timber exploitation ^[2].

In Laos, Cratoxylum fomosum trees are used:

• for the production of charcoal ^[3]
• for their edible young leaves, which can be differentiated as either sour (ສົ້ມ), smooth (ມ່ອນ) or blood-red (ເລືອດ), possibly depending on subspecies (such as sp. prunifolium).

Local names:

• Laotian: ໄມ້ຕີ້ວ [mâi tȋːw]
• Malay: mampat
• Thai: ผักติ้ว Phak tiu
• Vietnamese: thành ngạnh đẹp (sp. prunifolium : thành ngạnh vàng)

References

• 2011. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2011.1. "World Conservation Monitoring Centre 1998. Cratoxylum formosum.". http://www.iucnredlist.org/apps/redlIUCN 2011. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2011.1.. Retrieved 23 June 2011. 

1. ^ "'Mampat' entry in the Wood Explorer database". The Wood Explorer database. http://www.thewoodexplorer.com/maindata/we347.html. Retrieved 23 June 2011. 
2. ^ "'Mampat' entry in the Wood Explorer database". The Wood Explorer database. http://www.thewoodexplorer.com/maindata/we347.html. Retrieved 23 June 2011. 
3. ^ "Charcoal maker rewards villagers for growing mai tiew". Vientiane Times. 2011-06-21.