Oldenlandia capitellata (PROSEA)

Plant Resources of South-East Asia Introduction

List of species

Oldenlandia capitellata (Wallich ex G. Don) O. Kuntze

Protologue: Revis. gen. pl.: 292 (1891).

Synonyms

• Hedyotis capitellata Wallich ex G. Don (1834),
• Oldenlandia recurva (Korth.) Miq. (1859).

Vernacular names

• Indonesia: akar kemenyan hantu (Sumatra)
• Malaysia: seketan, akar patah bubul, akar patah gogoh (Peninsular)
• Thailand: kamlang hualamaan (Chiang Mai), tong haeng (peninsular), yan bueang thuai (Narathiwat)
• Vietnam: cây loét mồm, cây dạ cẩm.

Distribution

Eastern India, Indo-China, southern China, Burma (Myanmar), Thailand, Peninsular Malaysia, Singapore, Sumatra, Borneo; once collected in Java.

Uses

Leaves are used in Malaysia for poulticing to treat snake bites, broken bones, bruises, rheumatism, lumbago and ague, and internally for treating kidney complaints. A decoction of the root is administered to women after childbirth, and also used against constipation, indigestion, gastric vertigo and dysentery. In Vietnam, leaves and young stems are used in decoction to treat ulcers in the mouth, glossitis, pharyngitis and peptic ulcers.

Observations

• A sprawling perennial herb up to 2 m long, branches 4-angled or terete.
• Leaves oblong to lanceolate, up to 11(-15) cm long.
• Flowers in a paniculate inflorescence composed of peduncled heads, corolla cream-coloured.
• Fruit obovoid.

O. capitellata is a common climber over bushes and hedges up to 1200 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.
• [202] 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.
• [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.
• [1035] Nguyen Van Duong, 1993. Medicinal plants of Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos. Mekong Printing, Santa Ana, California, United States. 528 pp.

Main genus page

• Oldenlandia (Medicinal plants)

Authors

• N.O. Aguilar & R.H.M.J. Lemmens