Ixora javanica (PROSEA)

Plant Resources of South-East Asia
Introduction

Protologue: Prodr. 4: 487 (1830).

Synonyms

Southern Burma (Myanmar), Thailand, Peninsular Malaysia, Sumatra, Java and Borneo.

There are no medicinal uses reported for I. javanica, but extracts showed promising antitumour activity. It is cultivated as an ornamental.

A shrub, 3-5 m tall; leaves elliptical, oblong or oblong-ovate, 7.5-17 cm × 2.5-7 cm, herbaceous, base acute, apex acuminate, with 9-10 secondary veins, petiole 3-6 mm long, stipules long-awned.
Inflorescence loose, short-haired, peduncle 1-4 cm long.
Flowers with calyx tube 0.2 mm long, lobes ovate, 0.4 mm long, corolla tube 2.5-3.5 cm long, lobes ovate, obtuse or rounded, 6-8 mm long, orange-red sometimes pink or yellow, not fragrant, anthers pale orange, style 5 mm long slightly exserted.
Fruit about the size of a pea.

I. javanica is common in evergreen forest on fertile soils in Java.

[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.
[182] Bremekamp, C.E.B., 1937. The Malaysian species of the genus Ixora (Rub.). Contributions à l'étude de la flore des Indes Néerlandaises XXXIV. Bulletin du Jardin Botanique de Buitenzorg, Série III, 14: 197-367.
[768] Koorders, S.H. & Valeton, T., 1894-1915. Bijdrage tot de kennis der boomsoorten van Java [Contribution to the knowledge of the tree species of Java]. 13 parts. G. Kolff & Co., Batavia, Dutch East Indies, 's-Gravenhage, the Netherlands.
[1001] Nair, S.C. & Panikkar, K.R., 1990. Antitumour principles from Ixora javanica. Cancer Letters 49(2): 121-126.
[1002] Nair, S.C., Panikkar, B., Akamanchi, K.F. & Panikkar, K.R., 1991. Inhibitory effects of Ixora javanica extract on skin chemical carcinogenesis in mice and its antitumour activity. Cancer Letters 60(3): 253-258.
[1591] Wong, K.M., 1989. Ixora Linn. In: Ng, F.S.P. (Editor): Tree flora of Malaya. Vol. 4. Longman Malaysia, Petaling Jaya, Selangor, Malaysia. pp. 356-364.