Claoxylon indicum is a plant in the spurge family Euphorbiaceae native to south and southeast Asia. The Latin word indicum means "Indian", referring to the locality of collection of the type specimen, which was probably Java, part of the Dutch East Indies at that time.
Claoxylon indicum is a pyramid-shaped shrub or small tree growing to 2âÂÂ10 m in height. Its branches are grey and hairy, with large leaf scars. The leaves are oval and 80âÂÂ300 mm long. The slender male inflorescence is 30âÂÂ150 mm long, carrying many flowers; the female inflorescence 15âÂÂ80 mm long. The lobed fruit is 7âÂÂ10 mm in diameter, and the seeds round, black and wrinkled.
The plant is widely distributed through southern and south-eastern Asia from India and southern China through Indochina and Malesia to Sulawesi. It also occurs on Christmas Island, an Australian territory in the north-eastern Indian Ocean south of Java. It is common along roadsides, railways, forest edges and in forest clearings.