Sida cordifolia (PROSEA)

Plant Resources of South-East Asia Introduction

List of species

Sida cordifolia L.

Protologue: Sp. pl. 2: 684 (1753).

Family: Malvaceae

Vernacular names

• Flannel weed (En)
• Malaysia: poko kelulut puteh (Peninsular)
• Papua New Guinea: guguni pepe (Hula, Central Province), autubua autubua (Gaire, Central Province), sanapu (Darubia, Normanby Island, Milne Bay)
• Philippines: gulipas (Subanun)
• Thailand: taan saai (south-western), yaa khatbai pom (northern)
• Vietnam: bái thi, ké dồng tiền, bái trắng.

Distribution

Widely distributed in the tropics as a weed.

Uses

In Malaysia, the leaves of S. cordifolia are applied to conjunctivitis. The juice of the whole plant pounded with a little water is given for spermatorrhoea. An infusion of the roots is given for diseases such as hemiplegia or facial paralysis, for asthma as well as in disorders of the blood and bile. The root bark powder is given with milk and sugar to persons suffering from leucorrhoea. The seeds are considered aphrodisiac and are also used for gonorrhoea, cystitis, and colic. In Papua New Guinea and the Philippines, the juice of the leaves mixed with honey is given for dysentery.

Observations

• An erect herb, often woody and branched at the base, 0.5-2 m tall, stem and petioles covered with patent, long soft hairs.
• Leaves ovate-elliptical, 0.5-6 cm × 0.5-4.5 cm, base cordate to rounded, apex obtuse to acute, margins dentate-serrate, densely and softly hairy on both surfaces, light green, stipules equal.
• Flowers solitary or in clusters of 2-5, pedicel 2-25 mm long, petals truncate, 7-10 mm long, pale yellow.
• Mericarps 9-11, 3-3.5 mm long, awns 2, 2.5-5 mm long, setulose with reflexed bristles.

S. cordifolia grows on drier sandy locations, especially near sea-level, often locally abundant.

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.
• [135] 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] Council of Scientific and Industrial Research, 1948—1976. The wealth of India: a dictionary of Indian raw materials & industrial products. 11 volumes. Publications and Information Directorate, New Delhi, India.
• [418] Holdsworth, D.K., 1977. Medicinal plants of Papua New Guinea. Technical Paper No 175. South Pacific Commission, Noumea, New Caledonia. 123 pp.
• [739] Nguyen Van Duong, 1993. Medicinal plants of Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos. Mekong Printing, Santa Ana, California, United States. 528 pp.
• [785] Perrotta, D.M., Coody, G. & Culmo, C., 1996. Adverse events associated with ephedrine-containing products. Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (Texas, USA) 45(32): 689—691.
• [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.
• [788] Pételot, A., 1952—1954. Les plantes médicinales du Cambodge, du Laos et du Vietnam [The medicinal plants of Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam]. 4 volumes. Centre National de Recherches Scientifiques et Techniques, Saigon, Vietnam.
• [810] Quisumbing, E., 1978. Medicinal plants of the Philippines. Katha Publishing Co., Quezon City, the Philippines. 1262 pp.
• [832] Rao, K.S. & Mishra, S.H., 1998. Antihepatotoxic activity of Sida cordifolia whole plant. Fitoterapia 69(1): 20—23.

Main genus page

• Sida

Authors

• Balu Perumal