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Sri Lanka's wildlife encyclopedia

White Cheesewood

රුක්අත්තන ஏழிலைப்பாலை

Alstonia scholaris

Least concern

White Cheesewood
Wikimedia Commons contributor · CC BY-SA 3.0

Overview

Alstonia scholaris, commonly called blackboard tree, scholar tree, milkwood or devil's tree in English, is an evergreen tree in the oleander and frangipani family Apocynaceae. Its natural range is from Pakistan to China, and south to northern Australia. It is a toxic plant, but is used traditionally for myriad diseases and complaints. It is called 'Saptaparna' in India and is the sacred tree of the 2nd Jain tirthankar Ajitnatha. It was first described by Linnaeus in 1767, who gave it the name Echites scholaris.

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Sources

  1. Wikipedia (EN): Alstonia scholaris — CC BY-SA 4.0
  2. Wikipedia (SI): රුක්අත්තන — CC BY-SA 4.0
  3. Wikipedia (TA): ஏழிலைப்பாலை — CC BY-SA 4.0