# White Cheesewood

*Alstonia scholaris*

The species name 'scholaris' refers to the historical use of its light, easily worked wood to create writing slates for school children.

- **Taxonomy:** Plantae › Tracheophyta › Magnoliopsida › Gentianales › Apocynaceae › Alstonia
- **IUCN Red List status:** Least Concern
- **Population trend:** stable
- **Biome:** forest
- **Habitat:** Tropical and subtropical rainforests, monsoon forests, and secondary regrowth areas.
- **Diet:** Photoautotrophic (Sunlight, CO2, and mineral nutrients).
- **Range:** India, Southeast Asia, Southern China, Northern Australia, Sri Lanka
- **Size:** Reaches heights of up to 40 meters with a trunk diameter of 1.2 meters.
- **Lifespan:** 60 to 100 years
- **Active:** diurnal
- **Threats:** Habitat conversion for agriculture, urbanization, and over-harvesting of bark for pharmaceutical and traditional medicinal use.
- **Safe to approach?:** Harmless to observe from a distance. The tree produces a thick, milky white latex that is a skin and eye irritant and toxic if ingested. Avoid breaking leaves or bark; if skin contact occurs, wash thoroughly with soap and water.

## About

Alstonia scholaris (commonly called blackboard tree , devil tree , ditabark , milkwood-pine , white cheesewood ) is an evergreen tropical tree in the family Apocynaceae. It is native to the Indian subcontinent, Indomalaya, Malesia, and Australasia.

## Sources

- Plate: https://gaia-dex.com/species/02b194c1-9b37-46df-b7a1-6527f25acab6
- iNaturalist: https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/189179
- Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alstonia scholaris
- Conservation status: IUCN Red List category, as recorded by Gaia-Dex
- Photo: https://inaturalist-open-data.s3.amazonaws.com/photos/160602252/medium.jpeg (Ong Jyh Seng, CC-BY-SA, via iNaturalist)

Habitat, diet, size and similar notes are AI-written summaries; check them against the linked sources before relying on them.