Trichosanthes villosa (PROSEA)

Plant Resources of South-East Asia Introduction

List of species

Trichosanthes villosa Blume

Protologue: Bijdr. fl. Ned. Ind.: 934 (1826).

Synonyms

• Trichosanthes kerrii Craib (1914).

Vernacular names

• Indonesia: areuy baduyut, waluh leuweung (Sundanese)
• Philippines: kandolamo (Bukidnon)
• Laos: cho' tau quân
• Vietnam: dây dỏ mỏ.

Distribution

Laos, Vietnam, Thailand, Peninsular Malaysia, Sumatra, Java, Borneo and the Philippines.

Uses

Juice from the plant is drunk to treat diarrhoea when the stool is white. Crushed leaves have been smeared on the body to reduce fever, and also to alleviate the pain of swollen legs of women during pregnancy. Young fruits are edible when boiled.

Observations

• A dioecious, perennial vine of up to 10 m long, stem slightly grooved, velutinous.
• Leaves broadly ovate, entire to slightly 3-lobed, 10-16 cm × 5-18 cm, base cordate, lobes acute, pubescent above, velutinous below.
• Corolla about 6 cm in diameter; male inflorescence 10-20 cm long, bracts elliptical, 3-4 cm long, entire or nearly so, acute; female flowers solitary.
• Fruit globose to ellipsoid-globose, 8-13 cm in diameter, bright yellow to reddish-brown or red.
• Seeds obovate with a truncate apex, compressed.

T. villosa is found in brushwood and forest edges up to 700 m altitude.

Selected sources

• [97] Backer, C.A. & Bakhuizen van den Brink Jr, R.C., 1963-1968. Flora of Java. 3 volumes. Noordhoff, Groningen, the Netherlands. Vol. 1 (1963) 647 pp., Vol. 2 (1965) 641 pp., Vol. 3 (1968) 761 pp.
• [457] Gagnepain, F., 1921. Cucurbitacées [Cucurbitaceae]. In: Gagnepain, F. (Editor): Flore générale de l'Indo-Chine [General flora of Indo-China]. Vol. 2. Masson & Cie, Paris, France. pp. 1030-1095.
• [486] Gildemacher, B.H., Jansen, G.J. & Chayamarit, K., 1993. Trichosanthes L. In: Siemonsma, J.S. & Kasem Piluek (Editors): Plant Resources of South East Asia No 8. Vegetables. Pudoc Scientific Publishers, Wageningen, the Netherlands. pp. 271-274.
• [580] 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.
• [721] Keraudren-Aymonin, M., 1975. Cucurbitacées [Cucurbitaceae]. In: Vidal, J.E. & Galibert, Y. (Editors): Flore du Cambodge, du Laos et du Vietnam [Flora of Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam]. Vol. 15. Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle, Paris, France. 123 pp.
• [935] Merrill, E.D., 1923-1926. An enumeration of Philippine flowering plants. 4 volumes. Bureau of Printing, Manila, the Philippines.
• [1263] Rugayah & de Wilde, W.J.J.O., 1997. Trichosanthes L. (Cucurbitaceae) in Java. Blumea 42(2): 471-482.

Main genus page

• Trichosanthes (Medicinal plants)
• See also under Trichosanthes (PROSEA Vegetables) for the vegetable use.

Authors

• M.S.M. Sosef, E. Boer & N. Bunyapraphatsara