Allamanda cathartica (PROSEA)

Plant Resources of South-East Asia Introduction

List of species

Allamanda cathartica L.

Protologue: Mant. pl. 2: 214 (1771).

• Allamanda hendersoni W. Bull ex Dombrain (1866).

• Common allamanda, golden-trumpet (En)
• Indonesia: lame areuy (Sundanese)
• Malaysia: akar chempaka hutan, akar chempaka kuning, bunga akar kuning
• Philippines: kampanero, campanilla (Tagalog)
• Thailand: ban buri lueang (general)
• Vietnam: huynh anh, dây huỳnh.

Native to tropical America and the Caribbean, A. cathartica is now cultivated throughout the tropics.

Throughout South-East Asia, a decoction of the leaves is used as a purgative or emetic. In the Philippines, a decoction of the plant is used as an antidote. However, large doses may result in poisoning. In Java a steaming infusion is used to relieve coughs and headaches; the patient breathes in the vapour. In South America, the leaves or latex are used as a purgative. In Peru, the bark is used as a febrifuge. In Suriname, a decoction of the root is taken as a remedy for jaundice and enlarged spleen resulting from malaria.

• A robust climbing shrub up to 6 m tall, branchlets glabrous.
• Leaves elliptical to obovate, 2.5-15 cm × 1-5 cm, base cuneate, apex acuminate to caudate, glabrous or pilose beneath.
• Inflorescence 8.5-18 cm long.
• Sepals lanceolate or narrowly elliptical, 10-17 mm × 3-4 mm, without colleters inside, corolla tube about 5-7 cm long, distinctly widened halfway, lobes 1.6-4 cm long, style with stigmatic pistil head about 3.5 cm long; in cultivation rarely fruiting.

In its native area, A. cathartica is found in mangrove swamp and on river banks. Several cultivars have been developed in A. cathartica . "Grandiflora" has flowers of exceptional size, "Hendersonii" has orange-yellow flowers with white spots in throat, tinged bronze, lobes thick and waxy, and "Nobilis" has large and strongly whorled leaves, with very large, pure gold flowers.

37, 74,

• 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.

380, 407, 459, 696, 739, 786, 810.

Slamet Sutanti Budi Rahayu