Flemingia macrophylla (PROSEA)

Plant Resources of South-East Asia Introduction

List of species

Flemingia macrophylla (Willd.) Merr.

Protologue: Philipp. Journ. Sci., Bot. 5: 130 (1910).

Synonyms

Flemingia congesta Roxb. ex W.T. Aiton (1812), Flemingia latifolia Benth. (1852), Moghania macrophylla (Willd.) O. Kuntze (1891).

Vernacular names

• Indonesia: apa-apa (Javanese), hahapaan (Sundanese, pok kepokan (Madurese)
• Malaysia: serengan jantan, beringan
• Philippines: laclay-guinan (Tagalog), gewawini (Ifugao), malabalatong (Pampanga)
• Laos: thwàx h'è: h'üad, thwàx h'üad (Vientiane), h'ôm sa:m müang (Xieng Khouang)
• Thailand: mahae nok (northern), khamin naang (central), khamin phra (southeastern)
• Vietnam: tóp mỡ láto, dậu ma.

Distribution

F. macrophylla originated in and is widely distributed in South-East Asia and in India, Sri Lanka, southern China and Taiwan. It has been introduced and naturalized in Papua New Guinea, northern Australia, East, Central and West Africa and is cultivated in tropical America.

Uses

In Peninsular Malaysia, the entire plant is given to relieve stomach-ache. In India, the roots are applied externally to ulcers and swellings. In China, a decoction is used to bathe swellings and sores. In Taiwan, it is used as an antipyretic in post-partum fevers and to treat paralysis and painful joints.

Observations

A deep-rooting, tussock-forming shrub, 1-4 m tall, young branches ribbed, triangular in cross section; leaves 3-foliolate, petiole up to 10 cm long, leaflets elliptical-lanceolate, 6-16 cm × 4-7 cm, base rounded, apex rounded to acuminate, veins covered with silky hairs, papery, dark green; inflorescence a dense axillary raceme, subspiciform, sessile, 2.5-10 cm long, silky, bracts ovate, 3-6 mm long; calyx 6-13 mm long, pale green, velutinous; corolla standard elliptical, greenish with distinct parallel red veins, wings narrow and much shorter than the keel, light purple at the apex; pod oblong, 8-15 mm × 5 mm, covered with fine glandular hairs, dark brown, 2-seeded; seed globular, 2-3 mm in diameter, shiny black. The natural habitat of F. macrophylla is along watercourses and in brushwood in general under shaded conditions, both on clay and lateritic soils, as well as under drier conditions up to 2000 m altitude.

Selected sources

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.

215, 511, 662, 667, 827.

Authors

L.J.G. van der Maesen