Mallotus paniculatus aka Mallotus Paniculatus

Mallotus paniculatus grows fast as a shrub or small tree. It is part of the Euphorbiaceae family. Its native range spans Asia's tropical and subtropical zones. It reaches northern and northeastern Queensland. The range includes China, India, Southeast Asia and Papua New Guinea. Kew places it in the wet tropical biome. Useful Tropical Plants records it mostly in tropical lowlands.

Useful Tropical Plants gives a height of 39 feet [12 metres]. Its full account gives a top height of 49 feet [15 metres]. These heights refer to the species, not a stated garden range. The trunk can have no branches for 13 feet [4 metres]. It can reach about 0.8 feet [0.24 metres] across. The account notes both shrub and tree forms. It also notes hairs that cover the young leaves.

The plant grows in woods that shed or keep their leaves. It often grows on open land cleared or disturbed by fire. It grows in ravines, thickets, and by rivers and roads. Other sites include dry slopes, ridges and plateaus. Records range from sea level to 5,906 feet [1,800 metres]. Wild plants grow in clay, loam, sand and rocky ground. Records also list limestone, granite, basalt and volcanic soils. These records show the range of sites where it grows. They do not show tested soil needs for gardens.

The plant can bear flowers and fruit all year. Most plants are dioecious: each bears male or female flowers. Some are monoecious, with both flower sexes on one plant. To make seeds, most need both male and female plants. The source lists seed as a way to grow new plants. It gives no method for sowing them. Nor does it state what seeds need to sprout.

People gather this tree from the wild for several uses. Its bark yields tannins and fibre. People use the fibre for cord, coarse clothes and building. The very light wood serves for matches, packing boxes and paper pulp. Other uses include wallboard, light building work and fuel. Folk treatments use boiled roots after childbirth and leaves for fever. Records also note the use of young leaf hairs after circumcision. These reports do not prove that such treatments work. Nor do they show that these uses are safe. Useful Tropical Plants lists no known food uses or hazards. This does not mean the plant is safe to eat.