Brucea javanica(L.) Merr.

Java brucea

WFO wfo-0000572705 Accepted WFO 2026-06 8 photographs CC0 / CC BY

Plate 1 figs. a–h · 6 observations

This species has been photographed under an open licence only 6 times, so some figures below are different views of the same plant, taken on the same day, rather than different individuals. They are usually different parts of it: the leaf, the flower, the bark.

Brucea javanica, photographed by Jacy Chen
fig. a Jacy Chen, CC BY 4.0 / 2022-02-02 / obs. 178393617
Brucea javanica, photographed by Jacy Chen
fig. b Jacy Chen, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 90602443
Brucea javanica, photographed by Yj
fig. c Yj, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 17888525
Brucea javanica, photographed by 國立臺灣博物館
fig. d 國立臺灣博物館, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 62330116
Brucea javanica, photographed by Quentin Groom
fig. e Quentin Groom, CC0 1.0 / obs. 9406456
Brucea javanica, photographed by coenobita
fig. f coenobita, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 25969799
Brucea javanica, photographed by Jacy Chen
fig. g Jacy Chen, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 178393654
Brucea javanica, photographed by Jacy Chen
fig. h Jacy Chen, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 90602387

Every figure is a research-grade observation under CC0, CC BY or CC BY-SA, rehosted with the photographer’s name, the licence and the observation it came from. Photographs under a NonCommercial licence are excluded from this site and are never stored, which costs us a great many pictures and is not negotiable.

Native range 27 botanical countries

Regions where Brucea javanica is native: China South-Central, China Southeast, Hainan, Taiwan, Andaman Is., Assam, Bismarck Archipelago, Borneo, Cambodia, East Himalaya, India, Jawa, Laos, Lesser Sunda Is., Malaya, Maluku, Myanmar, New Guinea, Philippines, Sri Lanka, Sulawesi, Sumatera, Thailand, Vietnam, Northern Territory, Queensland, Caroline Is. China South-CentralChina SoutheastHainanTaiwanAssamBismarck ArchipelagoBorneoCambodiaEast HimalayaIndiaJawaLaosLesser Sunda Is.MalayaMalukuMyanmarNew GuineaPhilippinesSri LankaSulawesiSumateraThailandVietnamNorthern TerritoryQueensland Andaman Is.Caroline Is.
Native distribution of Brucea javanica, after Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants. Introduced, extinct and doubtful records are excluded, so this is where the plant is from, not everywhere it now grows. Regions too small to draw at this scale are marked with a dot.
RegionTDWG codeContinent
Andaman Is. AND ASIA-TROPICAL
Assam ASS
Bismarck Archipelago BIS
Borneo BOR
Cambodia CBD
East Himalaya EHM
India IND
Jawa JAW
Laos LAO
Lesser Sunda Is. LSI
Malaya MLY
Maluku MOL
Myanmar MYA
New Guinea NWG
Philippines PHI
Sri Lanka SRL
Sulawesi SUL
Sumatera SUM
Thailand THA
Vietnam VIE
China South-Central CHC ASIA-TEMPERATE
China Southeast CHS
Hainan CHH
Taiwan TAI
Northern Territory NTA AUSTRALASIA
Queensland QLD
Caroline Is. CRL PACIFIC

Region boundaries approximated from Natural Earth (public domain) and mapped to TDWG World Geographical Scheme for Recording Plant Distributions (WGSRPD) level-3 botanical countries (Brummitt 2001). Indicative, not the official WGSRPD geometry.

Also published as 12 synonyms

A synonym is not an error. It is a record of botanists disagreeing, in print, about where this plant belongs. Each of these was somebody’s considered answer.

  • Ailanthus gracilis Salisb.
  • Brucea amarissima (Lour.) Meyen ex Walp.
  • Brucea glabrata Decne.
  • Brucea gracilis DC.
  • Brucea sumatrana Roxb.
  • Brucea sumatrana var. cambodiana Lecomte
  • Brucea sumatrensis Spreng.
  • Gonus amarissimus Lour.
  • Lussa amarissima (Lour.) Kuntze
  • Rhus fastuosa Salisb.
  • Rhus javanica L.
  • Tetradium amarissimum (Lour.) Poir.

Sourcesevery claim on this page

  1. World Flora Online Plant List. accepted name, authority, classification. CC0. Retrieved 2026-07-12.
  2. iNaturalist. photographs and flowering annotations, CC0 / CC BY / CC BY-SA only. per photograph. Retrieved 2026-06-27.
  3. USDA PLANTS Database. common name, checklist symbol BRJA3. public domain. Retrieved 2026-07-13.
  4. Kew, World Checklist of Vascular Plants (WCVP v16). native distribution by TDWG level-3 botanical country, and life form. CC BY 3.0. Retrieved 2026-06-04.

We publish what we can source and we say so when we cannot. This page has no care advice and no toxicity claim, because we do not yet have those from a source we can cite.