Pericampylus glaucus (PROSEA)

Plant Resources of South-East Asia
Introduction

Protologue: Interpr. Herb. amboin.: 219 (1917).

Family: Menispermaceae

Chromosome number: 2n= unknown

Pericampylus glaucus (Lamk) Merr. - 1, flowering twig, male plant; 2, male flower, one sepal removed; 3, female flower, front sepal, petal and one staminode removed; 4, fruit; 5, endocarp

Synonyms

Cocculus glaucus (Lamk) DC. (1817),
Pericampylus incanus (Colebr.) Hook.f. & Thomson (1855),
Pericampylus membranaceous Miers (1871).

Vernacular names

Broad-leaved moonseed (En)
Indonesia: areuy geureung (Sundanese), celuru (Javanese), akar gamat (Moluccas)
Malaysia: gasing gasing, kelempenang (Peninsular), taworuk (Kudat, Sabah)
Philippines: silong pugo (Tagalog), botang botang (Cebu Bisaya), pamago (Bikol)
Thailand: salit hom kha (northern), yan tap tao (peninsular)
Vietnam: châu dảo, dây lõi tiền.

Origin and geographic distribution

P. glaucus is distributed from the eastern Himalayas, southern China, Taiwan, Indo-China, Thailand and Burma (Myanmar), southward throughout Malesia.

Uses

In Malaysia, the leaves of P. glaucus are one of the ingredients of an infusion to cure high fever, and in combination with other plants they are made into an infusion used for coughs and asthma. Pounded, the leaves are externally applied to soothe headache. The latter use is also reported for Sumatra. In Sabah, stem juice is used as eye-drops for conjunctivitis. In Indonesia, the mucilage resulting from soaking pounded leaves overnight is applied on the head as a remedy for hair loss. The same mucilageous substance is taken orally to cure a swollen spleen and accompanying fevers. In the Philippines the fluid extract of the roots is injected at the location of a snakebite, neutralizing the poison by precipitating and changing it into an inert substance. In India, the roots are credited with narcotic properties, and are also used as an antidote for snakebites. The tough stems can be used as string for tying and basketry.

Production and international trade

P. glaucus is only used on a local scale.

Properties

The seeds and bark of P. glaucus have a bitter taste. Experiments with ground plant material yielded only very low levels of alkaloids (0.01 g/100 g).

Six crystalline substances were isolated from the roots of P. glaucus and identified as sterols, triterpenes and fatty acids: epifriedelinol, melissic acid, palmitic acid, stearic acid, butyric acid and daucosterol.

Description

A slender, dioecious woody climber up to 5 m long, young stems yellowish tomentose, glabrescent, root tuberous, up to 30 cm in diameter.
Leaves alternate, simple, broadly triangular-ovate, 5-10 cm × 5-10 cm, base shallowly cordate or truncate, apex broadly rounded or obtuse, apiculate, margin broadly and shallowly crenate, palmately 5-veined, papyraceous, lower surface tomentose or softly pubescent, upper surface sparsely pubescent; petiole 3-7 cm long, yellowish tomentose; stipules absent.
Inflorescence axillary, a cyme, fasciculate, 2-6 together in male plants, solitary in female plants, 2-4 cm long, yellowish tomentose, pedunculate.
Flowers fragrant, white or yellow, sepals 9, hairy outside, 3 outer ones narrow, minute, 3 middle ones oblanceolate, 3 inner ones obovate, all 1 mm long, petals 6, obcuneate, 0.5 mm long, glabrous; male flowers stamens 6, free, 0.8 mm long; female flowers staminodes 6, filamentose, carpels 3, stigma deeply bifid recurved.
Fruit a drupe, transversely obovate, purple to black, glabrous; endocarp rotund in outline, ornate with rows of spines and tubercles.
Seed horseshoe-shaped.

Growth and development

P. glaucus can be found flowering and fruiting throughout the year. In Thailand fruiting is from April-July only.

Other botanical information

The genus Pericampylus comprises 2-3 species; a second species, P. formosanum Diels, is confined to southern China, Taiwan and the Ryukyu Islands and a third little-known species P. macrophyllus Forman is found in Burma (Myanmar). Pericampylus is placed in the tribe Menispermae. It is closely related to Legnephora but differs in having female flowers with petals, the anthers dehiscing differently. In Pericampylus the endocarp is without a dorsal median wing or ridge and lateral crests, instead it is dorsally covered with short pointed processes.

Ecology

P. glaucus is found in primary and secondary forest, in particular in clearings, and thickets, up to 1700 m altitude, and is locally common. It is a sun-loving plant although some shade may be required in the early stages of growth.

Propagation and planting

P. glaucus can be easily grown from seed.

Husbandry

P. glaucus needs adequate support to climb and spread properly so that a maximum amount of leaves can be produced.

Diseases and pests

Natural stands of P. glaucus exhibit little damage due to diseases and pests.

Harvesting

Mature leaves of P. glaucus can be harvested at regular intervals by hand or by using a knife or secateurs. Care must be taken not to damage the stems while removing the leaves. Harvesting of roots should be carried out towards the end of the growth period of the plant when production of leaves has declined and the tuberous roots have reached maximum weight and maturity.

Handling after harvest

Harvested leaves of P. glaucus should be dried quickly to prevent infections or damage. Fresh tuberous roots should be washed before being used.

Genetic resources and breeding

In view of the large geographical distribution and its common occurrence in hedges, thickets and disturbed habitats in general, P. glaucus does not seem to be threatened by genetic erosion. No germplasm collections or breeding programmes are known to exist.

Prospects

Very little is known about the phytochemistry and phytopharmacology of P. glaucus. More research is needed to fully evaluate its prospects.

Literature

Burkill, I.H., 1966. A dictionary of the economic products of the Malay Peninsula. Revised reprint. Ministry of Agriculture and Co-operatives, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Vol. 2 (I-Z) pp. 1722-1723.
Forman, L.L., 1986. Menispermaceae. In: van Steenis, C.G.G.J. & de Wilde, W.J.J.O. (Editors): Flora Malesiana. Series 1, Vol. 10. Kluwer Academic Publishers, Dordrecht, the Netherlands. pp. 157-253.
Grosvenor, P.W., Gothard, P.K., McWilliam, N.C., Supriono, A. & Gray, D.O., 1995. Medicinal plants from Riau Province, Sumatra, Indonesia. Part 1: uses. Journal of Ethnopharmacology 45: 75-95.
Liang, P., Zhou, Q. & Zhou, F., 1998. Studies on chemical constituents of Pericampylus glaucus (Lam.) Merr. Zhongguo Zhongyao Zazhi 23(1): 39-40, 63. (in Chinese)
Perry, L.M., 1980. Medicinal plants of East and Southeast Asia. Attributed properties and uses. MIT Press, Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States & London, United Kingdom. p. 266.
Siwon, J., 1982. A pharmacognostical study of some Indonesian plants of the family Menispermaceae. Thesis. Leiden University, Leiden, the Netherlands. pp. 100-104.

Other selected sources

[74] Backer, C.A. & Bakhuizen van den Brink Jr, R.C., 1964—1968. Flora of Java. 3 volumes. Noordhoff, Groningen, the Netherlands. Vol. 1 (1964) 647 pp., Vol. 2 (1965) 641 pp., Vol. 3 (1968) 761 pp.
[128] Brown, W.H., 1951—1957. Useful plants of the Philippines. Reprint of the 1941—1943 edition. 3 volumes. Technical Bulletin 10. Department of Agriculture and Natural Resources. Bureau of Printing, Manila, the Philippines. Vol. 1 (1951) 590 pp
[316] Forman, L.L., 1991. Menispermaceae. In: Smitinand, T. & Larsen, K. (Editors): Flora of Thailand. Vol. 5(3). The Forest Herbarium, Royal Forest Department, Bangkok, Thailand. pp. 325—331.
[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.
[810] Quisumbing, E., 1978. Medicinal plants of the Philippines. Katha Publishing Co., Quezon City, the Philippines. 1262 pp.

Authors

H.C. Ong