Polygala sibirica (PROSEA)

Plant Resources of South-East Asia Introduction

List of species

Polygala sibirica L.

Protologue: Sp. pl. 2: 702 (1753).

Family: Polygalaceae

Synonyms

• Polygala tenuifolia Willd. (1802).

Vernacular names

• Vietnam: viễn chí, kích nhũ.

Distribution

Distributed from Central Europe to Central China and North-East India.

Uses

P. sibirica has the same uses as P. polifolia, as an expectorant and an antiseptic, but is also widely known in Chinese medicine as an ingredient in mixtures taken for mental problems.

Observations

• A perennial, erect, pubescent herb, 10-25 cm tall, branching from the base.
• Lower leaves ovate, small, upper leaves elliptical to linear-lanceolate, 3-27 mm × 1-10 mm, apex acuminate.
• Raceme terminal and lateral, 1-10 cm long, bracts caducous.
• Flowers 5-6 mm long, sepals lanceolate, ciliate, wings ovate-lanceolate, 4-6 mm × 1.5-3 mm, acuminate, 3-veined, upper petals equalling or shorter than the keel, keel 4-5 mm long, with 2 clusters of filiform appendages.
• Capsule obcordate, about 5.5 mm in diameter, wing 0.5-0.75 mm long, ciliate.
• Seed rounded, at micropylar side with an unequally 3-lobed aril, black, hairy.

P. sibirica occurs in open waste places, grasslands, and in mountainous areas with a seasonal climate, at 1200-2000 m altitude.

Selected sources

• [130] Bruneton, J., 1995. Pharmacognosy, phytochemistry, medicinal plants. Technique & Documentation Lavoisier, Paris, France. 915 pp.
• [135] Burkill, I.H., 1966. A dictionary of the economic products of the Malay Peninsula. Revised reprint. 2 volumes. Ministry of Agriculture and Co-operatives, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Vol. 1 (A—H) pp. 1—1240, Vol. 2 (I—Z) pp. 1241—2444.
• [739] Nguyen Van Duong, 1993. Medicinal plants of Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos. Mekong Printing, Santa Ana, California, United States. 528 pp.
• [788] Pételot, A., 1952—1954. Les plantes médicinales du Cambodge, du Laos et du Vietnam [The medicinal plants of Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam]. 4 volumes. Centre National de Recherches Scientifiques et Techniques, Saigon, Vietnam.

Main genus page

• Polygala

Authors

• Rina R.P. Irwanto