Tsaang gubat
Ehretia microphylla · Fukien tea tree
- Names in the book
- Mag̃it, Alag̃itg̃it, Tag., Vis.
- Colours
- flowerwhitefruitorange, red
- Native range
- East and Southeast Asia
- In the Philippines, per the book
- Malinta and many other parts of the Visayas. Blooms in January.
- Family
- Ehretiaceae, filed in the book under Boraginaceæ
- Printed as
- Ehretia buxifolia, Roxb. (Carmonea heterophylla, Blanco.)
- Sources
- Page 173 on Project Gutenberg · Wikipedia
The plant today
Ehretia microphylla is commonly known as the Fukien tea tree or Philippine tea tree, is a species of flowering plant. The genus Ehretia is placed in the family Ehretiaceae.
Excerpt from “Ehretia microphylla” on Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.
Sa Tagalog
Ang tsaang gubat (Ehretia microphylla o Carmona retusa) ay isang espesye ng halamang namumulaklak sa pamilya ng Boraginaceae. Isa itong palumpong na maaring tumaas hanggang limang metro. Ang mga dahon nito ay kadalasang nasa 10-50 milimetro ang haba at 5-30 milimetro ang lapad at maaaring magkakaiba ang laki, yari, kulay at gilid.
Sipi mula sa “Tsaang gubat” sa Tagalog Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.
Recorded in the Philippines
GBIF holds 385 records of this plant from the Philippines. The ones with map coordinates fall in 40 provinces, most often Metropolitan Manila (31), Davao del Sur (15), Zamboanga del Norte (15), Cavite (13), Davao Oriental (11), Agusan del Sur (7), Negros Occidental (7), Cebu (6), and 32 more.
Counts from GBIF occurrence records, October 2026. They include planted trees and garden plants, and a province with no records may only lack collectors.
What the 1901 book says
A historical record, quoted as printed. Doses and remedies here are not medical advice.
Uses
The leaves dried in the shade are used in some Visayan towns, in infusion to take the place of tea. The root is used by the Hindoo physicians as an alterative. Dr. R. Ross has employed it for that purpose in a decoction of 60 grams to 500 cc. of water; 60 cc. a day of this preparation gave him good results in secondary and constitutional syphilis. The Mohammedans of India consider the root an antidote for vegetable poisons.
Botanical description
Small tree, 5–6° high, trunk straight. Leaves alternate or bunched in 3′s or 4′s at the nodes, lanceolate or spatulate, 3-toothed at apex, sometimes serrate toward the apex, set with short, stiff hairs. Petioles very short. Flowers axillary, in racemose panicles of a few flowers each. Common peduncle long, pedicel short. Calyx free, bell-shaped, persistent, divided almost to base into 5 narrow, downy parts. Corolla bell-shaped, 5 oval lobules. Stamens 5. Ovary oval, within the flower. Style bifid. Stigmas simple, truncate. Drupe globose, with hard, slightly furrowed putamen of 6 locules and solitary seeds.
Recent research
The most cited papers since 2022 that name this plant in the title, pulled from Europe PMC in October 2026. Titles are the authors' own and the findings have not been reviewed here.
- Synergetic effect of Leucophyllum frutescens and Ehretia microphylla dyes in enhancing the photovoltaic performance of dye-sensitized solar cells
- Ehretia microphylla Lam.: unveiling pharmacognostic, physicochemical, phytochemical and toxicity insights