Merremia peltata (PROSEA)

Plant Resources of South-East Asia Introduction

List of species

Merremia peltata (L.) Merr.

Protologue: Interpr. Herb. amboin.: 441 (1917).

Family: Convolvulaceae

Synonyms

• Convolvulus peltatus L. (1753),
• Merremia nymphaeifolia Hallier f. (1896).

Vernacular names

• Indonesia: areuy carayun (Sundanese), hailale (Ambon), kuge (Ternate)
• Malaysia: akar ulan, akar ulan gajah (Peninsular)
• Papua New Guinea: palai (Lomeoi, Manus Province), dawe (Koropak, Madang Province), balala (Sililio, Morobe Province)
• Philippines: bulakan (Tagalog, Bisaya), budakin (Bagobo), tampinita (Subanun)
• Thailand: yaan len, en luen (peninsular).

Distribution

From Madagascar, Mascarene Islands, Seychelles, throughout Malesia, to North and East tropical Australia and Polynesia.

Uses

In Indonesia and Fiji, diluted sap from the young stems is used as eye or ear drops. In the Philippines and Papua New Guinea, sap from the stem and tuber is considered a purgative, and a remedy for cough, diarrhoea and worms. The leaves are applied as a maturative for inflammation of the breasts. The tubers are purgative in decoction, and are used to treat uterine haemorrhage. In Fiji, a drink made from the juice of the leaves is reputed to be taken for the treatment of hernia, and the heated leaves are applied as a poultice. In Indonesia, the leaves of M. peltata are often used for washing hair, as they are cooling, improve growth and prevent hair loss.

Observations

• A large perennial twiner, 5-30 m long, rarely precumbent, stems terete, fistulose or pithy, glabrous, with milky juice, tuber large.
• Leaves peltate, broadly ovate to orbicular, 7-30 cm in diameter, base rounded, apex acuminate, mucronulate, petiole 3-20 cm long.
• Flowers in a 2-many-flowered corymb up to 40 cm long, peduncles 1-2 together, stout, bracts caducous.
• Flower-buds narrowly ovoid, acute, pedicel 1.5-2.5 cm long, clavate in fruit, sepals subequal, 15-25 mm long, outer ones broadly ovate, apex obtuse, corolla broadly funnel-shaped, 4.5-6 cm long, shallowly lobed, white, sometimes yellow, corolla inside above the insertion of filaments with a semi-circular thickening, filaments dilated and hairy in lower part, anthers spirally twisted, hairy.
• Capsule ovoid.
• Seed densely yellowish to dark brown, tomentose.

M. peltata occurs along edges of primary and secondary forests, clearings, and thickets, from sea-level up to 700 m altitude. Yellow-flowered specimens appear to be restricted to West Malesia, the white-flowered ones to East Malesia.

Selected sources

• [407] 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.
• [418] Holdsworth, D.K., 1977. Medicinal plants of Papua New Guinea. Technical Paper No 175. South Pacific Commission, Noumea, New Caledonia. 123 pp.
• [786] Perry, L.M., 1980. Medicinal plants of East and Southeast Asia. Attributed properties and uses. MIT Press, Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States & London, United Kingdom. 620 pp.

Main genus page

• Merremia

Authors

• Muhammad Mansur