Dendrolobium umbellatum
Common Name: Horse Bush, Petai Laut
Growth Requirements (including habitat): It grows on rocky or sandy seashores or tidal mud, monsoon forest edges, riverbanks, rocky cliffs, savanna, and secondary forests from sea level up to 180 m altitude. It grows well in full sun and moist, well-drained, saline soils.
Habit (Herb/Shrub/Treelet/Tree): It is a shrub or tree that can grow up to 6m tall. Its pinnate, stalked leaves have leaflets that are elliptic to broadly egg-shaped, the underside of which are covered with fine hairs. The terminal leaflet is 5–17 by 2.5–8.5 cm, and the lateral leaflets 3–11 by 1.5–6 cm. Its flowering cluster consists of 10–20, 13 mm-long, white flowers. Its thick, elongated, leathery fruit pods consist of 3–8 segments that are 1-seeded, broadly elliptical-oblong to oblong, and 5–10 by 3.5–5 mm.
Uses: It is cultivated as an ornamental plant, and is suitable for use as hedges or screening plants due to its bushy nature. Its plant parts are edible, serving basic consumption as well as medicinal purposes. The young leaves are sometimes eaten as a vegetable or used as a seasoning like herb and spices. The leaves are used medicinally to treat gonorrhoea, irregular menstruation, scaly skin, as after childbirth medicine or as a general tonic, etc. The plant is also used for cattle fodder.
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