Melina
Gmelina arborea Roxb. ex Sm.
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Gmelina arborea occurs in a variety of forest habitats, including tropical semi-evergreen, sub-montane, very moist teak forests, deciduous, and dry teak forests. Some of the places where the species is distributed are Quezon Province in Luzon; Panay, Guimaras, Mindoro, Masbate, Cebu, Negros, Bohol, and Basilan. The species belong to the family Lamiaceae (mint, sage family) characterized as herbs or shrubs, often aromatic with ethereal oils.
According to the assessment by IUCN Red List of Threatened Species in 2019, this plant that is locally known as Yemane is under the Least Concern category but with unknown population trend. It has edible fruits, wood is used as firewood, crafts (paper, furniture making, etc.), while its timber is used for construction. It is also used for phytoremediation purposes where a living plant is used to clean up soil, air, and/or water contaminated with hazardous contaminants. But it is more popular as a landscape plant.
Known as well as Melina, these trees are growing around the Main Campus offering some cool shade when you want to rest for a lazy, 2-hour break while waiting for your next class.
Distribution of Gmelina arborea Roxb. ex Sm. in the Polytechnic University of the Philippines (Map created by J. Diongco)
Natural distribution of Gmelina arborea Roxb. ex Sm. in the Philippines (Map created by J. Dela Cruz and J. Diongco)
Botanical Description of Gmelina arborea Roxb. ex Sm.
The genus Gmelina having 38 species of trees, was named after J.C. Gmelin, an 18th-century German botanist. The specific epithet name means treelike, from the Latin ‘arbor’ (tree) and it is said to be indigenous from Indonesia and Malaysia to India and Sri Lanka and to north and northeast Australia. It is a moderately sized to large deciduous tree with a straight trunk approximately 15 m tall with bark grayish brown and branchlets, petioles, and inflorescences densely yellow-brown tomentose in texture. Branchlets are slightly 4-angled when young, becoming terete or round, forming lenticels with leaf scars that are prominent. Leaves broadly ovate, thickly papery, base broadly cuneate to subcordate, apex acuminate; veins have 3-5 pairs. Inflorescence is terminal, narrow thyrses. Corolla of its florets is yellow, 3-4 cm, 2-lipped. Fruit is a drupe, yellow when ripe and black when dry, ellipsoid to obovoid-ellipsoid, 1.5-2 cm.
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