science

Sterculia foetida

Sterculia foetida is a science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Sterculia foetida rather than just read about it. In short: Sterculia foetida is a soft-wooded tree that can grow up to 35 metres (115 feet) tall. Common names for the plant are the bastard poon tree, Java olive tree, hazel sterculia, wild almond tree, and skunk tree.

Key takeaways

Sterculia foetida belongs to science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Sterculia foetida to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Sterculia foetida from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Sterculia foetida is a soft-wooded tree that can grow up to 35 metres (115 feet) tall. Common names for the plant are the bastard poon tree, Java olive tree, hazel sterculia, wild almond tree, and skunk tree.

Description The branches of Sterculia foetida are arranged in whorls; they spread horizontally. The tree's bark is smooth and gray. The leaves are placed at the end of branchlets; they have petioles ranging from 12.5 and 23 centimetres (4.9 and 9.1 inches) in length; the blades are palmately compound, containing 7–9 leaflets. The leaflets are elliptical, 100–170 mm long, and shortly petioled. The petioles and also the flowers are the source of the foul smell of the plant. Plant explorer David G. Fairchild who personally sniffed many of the worst smelling flowers, was of the opinion that Sterculia foetida was the worst. The flowers are arranged in panicles, 10–15 cm (4–6 in) long. The green or purple flowers are large and unisexual as the tree is dioecious (male and female flowers are found on different trees). The pollens are oval in shape, approximately 40 microns in length. The calyx is dull orange and is divided into five sepals, each one 10–13 millimetres (3⁄8–1⁄2 in) long. The fruit consists of four to five follicles, each follicle generally containing 10–15 seeds. The follicles are scarlet when ripe. In India, flowers appear in March, and the leaves appear between March and April. At Hyderabad (India), flowering was observed in September–October (2015) with ripened fruits on the top part and young green fruits at the lower branches. The fruit is ripe in February (11 months after the flowers appeared).

Taxonomy The species was described in 1753 by Carl Linnaeus. It is the type species of the genus Sterculia and both names mean bad-smelling: the name Sterculia comes from Sterquilinus, the Roman god of fertilizer or manure.

Distribution Sterculia foetida has been found in many areas, including India, Bangladesh, Taiwan, Indochina, the Philippines (where it is known as kalumpang), United States (Hawaii), Indonesia, Ghana, Australia, Mozambique, and Togo.

Toxicity and uses The oil of Sterculia foetida has been found to be comparable to sunflower, soybean, and grapeseed oils for the use of biofuels. Sterculia foetida oil contains cyclopropene fatty acids (CPFA) such as 8,9 methylene-heptadec-8-enoic acid (malvalic acid) and 9,10-methylene-ocadec-9-enoic acid (sterculic acid). The flash point, iodine value, free fatty acid count, phosphorus content, cloud point, pour point, viscosity at 40 °C, oxidative stability at 110 °C, density, and trace metal count are all within ASTM and EN specifications. Evidence suggests that the seeds are edible, but purgative, and should be roasted prior to eating. At least one review indicates that CPFA such as sterculic acid are carcinogenic, co-carcinogenic, and have medical and other effects on animals; according to this review, "CPFA in food is dangerous to human health". In Vietnam, the tree is called Trôm and its sap is harvested to use as a soft drink called "Mủ Trôm".

Gallery

References

Media related to Sterculia foetida at Wikimedia Commons

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Sterculia foetida

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Sterculia foetida claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Sterculia foetida before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Sterculia foetida ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Sterculia foetida

In research: Sterculia foetida appears in science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Sterculia foetida in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Sterculia foetida is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Biofuels, Dioecious plants, Flora of Ghana, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Sterculia foetida outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Sterculia foetida in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Sterculia foetida means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Sterculia foetida out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Sterculia foetida in simple terms?

Why does Sterculia foetida matter?

Because it connects several science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Sterculia foetida?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Sterculia foetida.