Plao Yai

Croton persimilis is a tree in the spurge family, Euphorbiaceae, native from Thailand in mainland Southeast Asia to southern Yunnan, China, and on to the Indian subcontinent. It is a pioneer species with a short life span, found in bamboo-deciduous forest and deciduous dipterocarp-oak forest, and it is a pollen source for stingless bees. It is called plao yai in Thailand and thom pung in Khmer. The leaves are used in Thai traditional medicine for postpartum care. In Na Siao subdistrict, Chaiyaphum Province, the bark and leaves, at times boiled, treat a variety of ailments. Villagers on the Phnom Kulen plateau in Cambodia make a green tea from dried pieces of trunk and branches for stomachache, and use wood chips in a decoction for postpartum care. Four ethnic groups in the Wayanad District of Kerala, India, the Kattunaikkan, Kuruchiyar, Mullakuruman and Adiyan, use the plant to treat inflammation. The species was first described in 1865 by Johannes Müller Argoviensis.