I.

Taxonomic Classification

Kingdom Plantae
Subkingdom Viridiplantae
Infrakingdom Streptophyta
Superdivision Embryophyta
Division Tracheophyta
Subdivision Spermatophytina
Class Magnoliopsida
Superorder Asteranae
Order Gentianales
Family Apocynaceae
Genus Alstonia R. Br.
Species Alstonia scholaris (L.) R. Br.
Vernacular Name Dita (Tagalog)

II. Botanical Description

Dita tree is smooth and grows from 6 to 20 meters high. It is noted for its abundant, bitter,
milky sap. The branches are whorled. The bark is dark grey and somewhat rough. The leaves
(Fig. 1) are in whorls, 4 to 7 in a whorl, leathery, oblong-obovate, 10 to 20 cm long, 3 to 4.5 cm
wide, rounded at the tip and pointed at the base, green and shining on the upper surface, and
white or grayish on the lower. The lateral nerves are very numerous, parallel, and terminating in
an intramarginal vein. The flowers (Fig. 2) are crowded, numerous, somewhat hairy, greenish-
white, about 1 cm long, hairy in the throat, and borne in compact, hairy cymes about 10 cm in
length. The fruit is made up of two slender follicles which are pendulous, cylindrical, 20 to 40 cm
long, and 4 to 5 millimeters in diameter. The seeds are 3 to 4 millimeters long, with brown ciliate
hairs on the end (Quisumbing, 1978, pp. 721).

Fig. 1 Leaves of Alstonia scholaris Fig. 2 Flowers of Alstonia scholaris

III. Constituents Present

Constituent Amount Parts of the Plants Author/s
Linalool 2.22%
Tritetracontane 2.17% Flower Islam, F., Islam, S.,
Nandi, N., & Satter,
M. (2013)

C17 n- alkane 0.39%

C22 n-alkane 0.44% Dutta, M. & Laskar,
C25 n-alkane 3.74% Leaves S. (2009)
C32 n-alkanes 4.28%
1,54- 5.13%
Dibromotetrapentacontane Islam, F., Islam, S.,
Methyltridecanoate 1.23% Flower Nandi, N., & Satter,
Eugenol 0.68% M. (2013)
Palmitic Acid 1.01%

IV. Non- Pharmacological Uses

Alstonia scholaris is the most important source of pulai timber. It is used for pattern making,
corestock, plywood, carving and mouldings. The wood is also used for making coffins in Sri
Lanka and school boards in Myanmar. The wood of dita tree is also suitable for pulp and paper
production. Wood charcoal of the tree is also used as a gun powder. The latex, meanwhile, is
used for production of a good quality chewing gum (Orwa, et. al, 2009).

V. Pharmacological Uses
Use Method of Preparation Author
Antituberculosis Methanol extraction of leaf, Macabeo, A., Krohn, K.,
stem bark and root bark Gehle, D., Read, R., Brophy,
J., Franzblau, S., et. al (2005)
Wound healing Ethanolic and aqueous Kaushik, P., Kaushik, D.,
extraction of leaves Sharma, N., Rana, A. C.
(2011)
Antidiabetic and Ethanolic extract of the leaves Arulmozhi, S., et. al (2010)
antihyperlipidemic
Antihypertension Decoction of bark Bhogayata, K., Sharma, P.,
Patel, B. (2009)
Antitussive, anti-asthmatic Ethanolic extraction of leaves Shang, J., Cai, X., Zhao, Y.,
and expectorant Feng, T., Luo, X. (2010)

VI. References
Quisumbing, E. (1978). Medicinal Plants of the Philippines. Katha Publishing Company.
Islam, F., et. al (2013). Essential oil composition from the flowers of Alstonia scholaris of
Bangladesh. International Food Research Journal, 20(6), 3185-2188.
Macabeo, A., et. al (2005). Indole alkaloids from the leaves of Philippine Alstonia scholaris.
Phytochemistry, 66(10), 1158-1162.
Kaushik, P., et. al (2011). Alstonia scholaris: its phytochemistry and pharmacology. Chronicles
of Young Scientists, 2(2), 71-78.
Arulmozhi, S., et. al (2010). Antidiabetic and antihyperlipidemic activity of leaves of Alstonia
scholaris Linn. R.Br., European Journal of Integrative Medicine, 2, 23-32.
Orwa, et. al (2009). Alstonia scholaris. Agroforestry Database 4.0
Dutta, M. & Laskar, S. (2009). Hydrocarbons in the surface wax of the leaves of Alstonia
scholaris (Linn.) R. Br. Oriental Journal of Chemistry, 25(2), 437-439.