ABSTRACT
In field collection, trees of the family Elaeocarpaceae are recognized by three botanical features: the blade, the petiole, and the inflorescences. The blades are dark green, serrate, elliptical, and glossy. A chemical feature of Elaeocarpaceae, Cucurbitaceae, and Begoniaceae is their ability to elaborate a series of oxygenated steroids or cucurbitacins, which have so far been found in the Cucurbitaceae and Begoniaceae Families. Other principles of interest in Elaeocarpaceae are indolizidine alkaloids, which have attracted a great deal of interest on account of their ability to inhibit the enzymatic activity of glucosidases because of a structural similarity with glucose. Elaeocarpus floribundus Bl. is a tree that grows up to 30m high with a girth of 2.4m, and is common in the lowland hills and mountains up to an altitude of 1500m in India, Burma, Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos, Malaysia, Indonesia, and the Philippines.
