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Monoon longifolium
Also called False ashoka, Cemetery Tree, Mast Tree
In Singapore: Indian Mast Tree, Mast Tree, Sorrowless Tree, False Ashok Tree, Cemetery Tree, Asoka Tree, 长叶暗罗, False Ashoka, False Asoka, Weeping Mast Tree, Green Champa, Mempisang (Grown in Singapore)
Monoon longifolium (false ashoka, also called Polyalthia longifolia) is an evergreen tree in the Annonaceae family that can exceed 20 m, grown for its weeping pendulous form and noise-reducing shade. Its key to success is a sunny, frost-free site with regular moisture, and it is best kept pruned to a manageable size.
Monoon longifolium, the false ashoka, also commonly known by its synonym Polyalthia longifolia, is an Asian small tree species in the family Annonaceae. It is native to southern India and Sri Lanka, but has been widely introduced elsewhere in tropical Asia. This evergreen tree is known to grow over 20 m. in height and is commonly planted due to its effectiveness in alleviating noise pollution. It exhibits symmetrical pyramidal growth with willowy weeping pendulous branches and long narrow lanceolate leaves with undulate margins.
Monoon longifolium is sometimes incorrectly identified as the ashoka tree (Saraca indica) because of the close resemblance of both trees. The cultivated, column-like pendula form can appear to have no branches, but in fact a non-hybrid M.
Found natively in southern India and Sri Lanka. It is introduced in gardens in many tropical countries around the world. It is, for example, widely used in parts of Jakarta in Indonesia and the Caribbean islands of Trinidad and Tobago.
The leaves are used for ornamental decoration during festivals. The tree is a focal point in gardens throughout India. The tree can be pruned into various shapes and maintained in required sizes. The flexible, straight and light-weight trunks were once used in the making of masts for sailing ships. Thus, the tree is also known as the Mast Tree. Today, its wood is mostly used for manufacturing small articles such as pencils, boxes, matchsticks, etc. The oil of the seed has been confirmed to possess anti-oxidant, anti-lipooxygenase and antimicrobial (against various microbe strains) activities, among others. Bankole et al 2016 find M. longifolium does control chloroquine resistant strains of Plasmodium berghei ANKA in mouse to some degree but is not an effective treatment.
[Contains information from Leaf Area Index (LAI) and Heritage Trees from data.gov.sg (National Parks Board), made available under the terms of the Singapore Open Data Licence version 1.0]
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Monoon longifolium by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0; the excerpts and the care summary drawn from them are shared under the same licence.
The care summary was written by AI (Claude, Anthropic) from the sources on this page, with general growing knowledge where they are silent. Check before relying on it.
Life form, climate and native range: World Checklist of Vascular Plants, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (CC BY 3.0), reformatted; see Plants of the World Online.
