Laportea aestuans (PROSEA)

Plant Resources of South-East Asia Introduction

List of species

Laportea aestuans (L.) Chew

Protologue: Gard. Bull. Sing. 21: 200 (1965).

Family: Urticaceae

Synonyms

• Fleurya aestuans (L.) Gaudich. (1830)

Vernacular names

• Papua New Guinea: maribean (Kurtatchi, Bougainville Island).

Distribution

From tropical America, the West Indies, tropical Africa, Madagascar, Arabia, India to Sumatra, Java and the Lesser Sunda Islands, possibly extending to New Guinea.

Uses

In Bougainville Island (Papua New Guinea), the root and stem bark are externally applied to sores on the sole of the feet. In Trinidad, Brazil and Peru, a decoction of the plant is taken as a diuretic.

Observations

• A monoecious, annual herb up to 1(-)2 m tall, stem fleshy, slightly woody at base, with few branches, glabrescent to densely armed with short irritant hairs and long glandular hairs.
• Leaves ovate to broadly ovate, (3-)10-15(-30) cm × (2-)8-12(-21) cm, base rounded to cordate, apex acuminate, margin dentate, with scattered irritant hairs on the upper surface, petiole (2-)5-15(-20) cm long, densely covered with irritant and long glandular hairs, stipules up to 1 cm long, with few short irritant hairs.
• Panicle bisexual, well-branched, usually solitary, up to 20 cm × 10 cm, bracteolate.
• Male flowers pedicellate, about 1.5 mm long, with few glandular hairs and very few irritant hairs, filaments reflexed, interfloral bracts very numerous.
• Female flowers pedicellate, pedicel slightly winged dorsi-ventrally, glabrescent, stigma linear, unbranched, about 0.3 mm long, interfloral bracts minute, numerous.
• Achene asymmetrically ovoid, stipitate, 1-2 mm × 1-2 mm, partly surrounded by a narrow membranaceous wing, on each lateral side a triangular ridge enclosing a warty depression, perianth reflexed, pedicel often winged dorsi-ventrally; achene dispersed with perianth and upper portion of pedicel attached.

L. aestuans is common in disturbed semi-shaded habitats, along roads in abandoned gardens, plantations and shoreline vegetation dominated by Pisonia grandis R.Br.

Selected sources

• [74] Backer, C.A. & Bakhuizen van den Brink Jr, R.C., 1964—1968. Flora of Java. 3 volumes. Noordhoff, Groningen, the Netherlands. Vol. 1 (1964) 647 pp., Vol. 2 (1965) 641 pp., Vol. 3 (1968) 761 pp.
• [418] Holdsworth, D.K., 1977. Medicinal plants of Papua New Guinea. Technical Paper No 175. South Pacific Commission, Noumea, New Caledonia. 123 pp.
• [696] Morton, J.F., 1981. Atlas of medicinal plants of Middle America. Bahamas to Yucatan. Charles C. Thomas, Springfield, Illinois, United States. 1420 pp.

Main genus page

• Laportea

Authors

• J.L.C.H. van Valkenburg