Sida acuta (PROSEA)

Plant Resources of South-East Asia Introduction

List of species

Sida acuta Burm.f.

Protologue: Fl. ind.: 147 (1768).

Family: Malvaceae

Synonyms

• Sida carpinifolia (non L.f.) Mast. (1875).

Vernacular names

• Broom weed, spinyhead sida (En)
• Indonesia: sidaguri (Javanese), galungang (Sundanese), taghuri (Madurese)
• Malaysia: bunga telur belangkas, lidah ular, sedeguri (Peninsular)
• Papua New Guinea: kuriakuria (Vanapa Bridge, Central Province)
• Philippines: ualisualisan, takkimbaka (Tagalog), pamalis (Tagalog, Bisaya)
• Cambodia: kantrang ba sa
• Thailand: naa-khui-mee, yaa khat mon (northern), yung kwaat (central)
• Vietnam: bái chổi, chổi dực, bái nkọn.

Distribution

Widely distributed in the tropics and common in South Asia.

Uses

In Indo-China and the Philippines, a decoction of the leaves and roots of S. acuta is used against haemorrhoids, impotency and for expelling intestinal worms. The roots are a tonic, used as a stomachic, a diaphoretic, and in some parts of the Philippines for vomiting of blood. In India, the leaves are boiled in oil and applied to testicular swellings and elephantiasis. In the Philippines, the seeds are used to cure enlarged glands and inflammatory swellings.

Observations

• An erect, branched, nearly glabrous herb or small shrub, 30-100 cm tall with a strong taproot, stems and branches flattened at the tips.
• Leaves oblong-lanceolate to linear, 2-9 cm × 0.5-4 cm, base acute to rounded, apex acute, margins serrate-dentate, lower surface glabrous or with short stellate hairs, petiole 3-6 mm long, at least one stipule of each pair lanceolate-linear, 1-2 mm broad, often curved, ciliate, the other narrower.
• Flowers solitary, or densely crowded on side-shoots, 1.3 cm in diameter, pedicel 3-8 mm, petals emarginate, 6-8 mm long, pale yellow.
• Mericarps 5-8, 3.5 mm long, awns 2, 1-1.5 mm long, glabrous.

S. acuta grows on roadsides, dams, fields, lawns, waste places and teak-forests, common at sea-level but also up to 1500 m altitude. Two subspecies are distinguished: subsp. acuta, with linear to lanceolate leaves, base acute, margins coarsely serrate, indumentum with a few hairs and flowers in clusters of 2-3, and subsp. carpinifolia (L.f.) Borss. Waalk., with ovate to oblong, finely serrate leaves with rounded base, indumentum with many simple hairs and flowers in clusters of up to 8.

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.
• [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.
• [143] Cambie, R.C. & Ash, J., 1994. Fijian medicinal plants. Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation, Canberra, Australia. 350 pp.
• [215] Council of Scientific and Industrial Research, 1948—1976. The wealth of India: a dictionary of Indian raw materials & industrial products. 11 volumes. Publications and Information Directorate, New Delhi, India.
• [407] Heyne, K., 1950. De nuttige planten van Indonesië [The useful plants of Indonesia]. 3rd Edition. 2 volumes. W. van Hoeve, 's-Gravenhage, the Netherlands/Bandung, Indonesia. 1660 + CCXLI pp.
• [418] Holdsworth, D.K., 1977. Medicinal plants of Papua New Guinea. Technical Paper No 175. South Pacific Commission, Noumea, New Caledonia. 123 pp.
• [739] Nguyen Van Duong, 1993. Medicinal plants of Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos. Mekong Printing, Santa Ana, California, United States. 528 pp.
• [785] Perrotta, D.M., Coody, G. & Culmo, C., 1996. Adverse events associated with ephedrine-containing products. Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (Texas, USA) 45(32): 689—691.
• [786] 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.
• [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.
• [810] Quisumbing, E., 1978. Medicinal plants of the Philippines. Katha Publishing Co., Quezon City, the Philippines. 1262 pp.

Main genus page

• Sida

Authors

• Balu Perumal