Clerodendrum inerme (PROSEA)

Plant Resources of South-East Asia Introduction

List of species

Clerodendrum inerme (L.) Gaertner

Protologue: Fruct. sem. pl. 1: 271(1788).

Vernacular names

• Seaside clerodendron, garden quinine (En)
• Indonesia: kembang bugang (Sundanese), wiri salo (Buginese), gambir laut (Moluccas)
• Malaysia: bunga pawang, langa langa, terong gambul
• Philippines: mangongot (Tagalog), baliseng (Bisaya), samin anga (Sulu)
• Thailand: sammangaa (central, eastern), som neraa, sak khree yaan (peninsular)
• Vietnam: chùm gọng.

Distribution

From the coast of subtropical and tropical India to Australia, almost throughout the Pacific, and northward to southern China. Introduced in other parts of the tropics to control beach erosion and as an ornamental.

Uses

In the Philippines, a decoction of the root is administered as a febrifuge and general alterative. The leaves are used in poultices as a resolvent. In Indonesia, the seeds are reportedly used as a remedy for an upset stomach, especially if caused by poisonous seafood. The finely ground roots are used for the same purpose. This treatment is often combined with a decoction of the leaves, simultaneously employed as a bath but also as a drink. In Thailand, a decoction of the leaves or a poultice of ground leaves is used in the treatment of skin diseases and itches. The roots are used as an alterative and febrifuge. In Vietnam, a decoction of roasted leaves is considered a remedy for beriberi. In India, fresh and dry leaves are credited with alterative and febrifugal properties. The root boiled in oil is used as a liniment useful in rheumatism. The leaves are applied in poulticing.

Observations

• An evergreen erect bush, often scrambling or scandent up to 3 m tall, sometimes a liana up to 13 m long, branches and branchlets slender, nodes not annulate.
• Leaves elliptical or narrowly lanceolate, 2.3-10 cm × 0.8-4.5 cm, base acute, apex obtuse or shortly acuminate, entire, glabrate above, almost glabrate beneath, aromatic, petiole 0.5-1 cm long.
• Cymes axillary or supra-axillary, solitary, opposite, 4.5-9.5 cm long, 3-7-flowered; calyx campanulate, tube about 4 mm long, 5-toothed, green, corolla hypocrateriform, tube slender, (1.5-)2-3.5(-4) cm long, lobes 0.4-0.8(-1.1) cm long, white or tinged purple, fragrant, stamens long exserted, reddish to purple, fruiting calyx accrescent to 1.5 cm in diameter.
• Drupe 0.8(-1.9) cm in diameter, bright green turning black or brown, splitting into 4 pyrenes.

C. inerme is a polymorphic species of seashores, saline marshes and swamps, muddy tidal river banks, and the edges of mangrove forest.

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.
• [140] Calis, I., Hosny, M. & Yuruker, A., 1994. Inerminosides A1, C and D, three iridoid glycosides from Clerodendrum inerme. Phytochemistry 37(4): 1083—1085.
• [141] Calis, I., Hosny, M., Yuruker, A., Wright, A.D. & Sticher, O., 1994. Inerminosides A and B, two novel complex iridoid glycosides from Clerodendrum inerme. Journal of Natural Products 57(4): 494—500.
• [278] El-Ghar, G.E.S.A., & El-Sheikh, A.E., 1987. Effectiveness of some plant extracts as surface protectants of cowpea seeds against the pulse beetle, Callosobruchus chinensis. Phytoparasitica (Israel) 15(2): 109—113.
• [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.
• [411] Hiremath, I.G., Ahn, Y.J. & Kim, S.I., 1997. Insecticidal activity of Indian plant extracts against Nilaparvata lugens (Homoptera: Delphacidae). Applied Entomology and Zoology 32(1): 159—166.
• [459] Huxley, A., Griffiths, M. & Levy, M., 1992. The new Royal Horticultural Society dictionary of gardening. 4 volumes. The MacMillan Press Ltd., London, United Kingdom. 3353 pp.
• [688] Moldenke, H.N. & Moldenke, A.L., 1983. Verbenaceae. In: Dassanayake, M.D. & Fosberg, F.R. (Editors): A revised handbook to the flora of Ceylon. Vol. 4. Amerind Publishing Co., New Delhi, India. pp. 196—487.
• [706] Munir, A.A., 1989. A taxonomic revision of the genus Clerodendrum L. (Verbenaceae) in Australia. Journal of the Adelaide Botanic Garden 11(2): 101—173.
• [730] Ng, F.S.P., 1991—1992. Manual of forest fruits, seeds and seedlings. 2 volumes. Malayan Forest Record No 34. Forest Research Institute Malaysia, Kepong, Malaysia. 997 pp.
• [739] Nguyen Van Duong, 1993. Medicinal plants of Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos. Mekong Printing, Santa Ana, California, United States. 528 pp.
• [777] Patel, H.R. & Patel, B.N., 1993. Inhibition of chlorotic mottle virus infection by plant extracts and other substances. Indian Journal of Mycology and Plant Pathology 23(2): 191—193.
• [782] Pereira, J. & Gurudutt, K.N., 1990. Growth inhibition of Musca domestica L. and Culex quinquefasciatus (Say) by (-)-3-epicaryoptin isolated from leaves of Clerodendron inerme (Gaertn) (Verbenaceae). Journal of Chemical Ecology 16(7): 2297—2306.
• [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.
• [810] Quisumbing, E., 1978. Medicinal plants of the Philippines. Katha Publishing Co., Quezon City, the Philippines. 1262 pp.
• [867] Saralamp, P., Chuakul, W., Temsiririrkkul, R. & Clayton, T. (Editors), 1996. Medicinal plants in Thailand. Vol. I. Department of Pharmaceutical Botany, Faculty of Pharmacy, Mahidol University, Bangkok, Thailand. 219 pp.

Main genus page

• Clerodendrum

Authors

• J.L.C.H. van Valkenburg & N. Bunyapraphatsara