Scutellaria javanica (PROSEA)

Plant Resources of South-East Asia Introduction

List of species

Scutellaria javanica Jungh.

Protologue: Java 1, ed. 2: 661 (1853).

Synonyms

• Scutellaria horsfieldiana Miq. (1859),
• Scutellaria sumatrana Miq. (1859),
• Scutellaria russeliaefolia Vatke (1872),
• Scutellaria luzonica Rolfe (1884).

Vernacular names

• Indonesia: kapunten, upar upar (Javanese), bangun bangun na gerger (Karo-Batak)
• Philippines: lupingan, sidit (Igorot)
• Vietnam: thuẫn java.

Distribution

Indo-China, the Philippines, Sumatra, Java, the Lesser Sunda Islands, Sulawesi, the Moluccas and New Guinea.

Uses

In the Philippines, a decoction of S. javanica is used to cure stomach pains.

Observations

• A herb or slender shrub up to 1 m tall, stems procumbent to erect, branched.
• Leaves lanceolate to broadly ovate, 0.5-5(-10) cm × 0.3-2.5(-3.5) cm, base slightly cuneate or rounded to subcordate, margin usually remotely crenate or dentate, puberulent on both surfaces; bracts (2-)3-6 mm long.
• Flowers opposite, in a simple, terminal, 1-sided raceme of (2-)4-10(-20) cm long, hirsute to puberulent, corolla blue or white, 14-16 mm long.

S. javanica has been subdivided into 4 varieties, mainly on characters concerning the leaves. One of these, var. luzonica (Rolfe) H. Keng is sometimes regarded as a distinct species. It is found in open, primary or secondary, lowland to montane forest, coffee estates, savanna forest, in ravines, on ridges in mossy forest, on various soils including peat overlying sand, up to 2850(-3300) m altitude.

Selected sources

• [190] Brown, W.H., 1951-1957. Useful plants of the Philippines. Reprint of the 1941-1943 edition. 3 volumes. Technical Bulletin 10. Department of Agriculture and Natural Resources. Bureau of Printing, Manila, the Philippines. Vol. 1 (1951) 590 pp., Vol. 2 (1954) 513 pp., Vol. 3 (1957) 507 pp.
• [720] Keng, H., 1978. Labiatae. In: van Steenis, C.G.G.J. (General editor): Flora Malesiana. Series 1, Vol. 8. Sijthoff & Noordhoff International Publishers, Alphen aan den Rijn, the Netherlands. pp. 301-394.
• [854] Li, H.-W. & Hedge, I.C., 1994. Lamiaceae (Labiatae). In: Wu, Z.-Y. & Raven, P.H. (Editors): Flora of China. Vol. 17. Science Press, Beijing, China & Missouri Botanical Garden, St. Louis, United States. pp. 50-299.
• [1118] Paton, A., 1990. The phytogeography of Scutellaria L. Notes from the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh 46: 345-359.
• [1126] Perry, L.M., 1980. Medicinal plants of East and Southeast Asia. Attributed properties and uses. MIT Press, Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States & London, United Kingdom. 620 pp.
• [1178] Quisumbing, E., 1978. Medicinal plants of the Philippines. Katha Publishing Co., Quezon City, the Philippines. 1262 pp.

Main genus page

• Scutellaria (Medicinal plants)

Authors

• H.P. Hernandez