Aerva sanguinolenta (PROSEA)

Plant Resources of South-East Asia Introduction

List of species

Aerva sanguinolenta (L.) Blume

Protologue: Bijdr. fl. Ned. Ind.: 547 (1826).

Synonyms

• Achyranthes sanguinolenta L. (1762),
• Aerva scandens (Roxb.) Wallich ex Moq. (1849),
• Aerva timorensis Moq. (1849).

Vernacular names

• Indonesia: ki sambang (Sundanese), sambang colok, gondang kasih (Javanese)
• Laos: do:k khaix ped (Luang Prabang)
• Thailand: khruea khaao tok (northern), yaa dok khaao (central), phan nguu yai (Saraburi)
• Vietnam: mông gà (Phu Khanh), rau chua, mao vĩ dỏ.

Distribution

From India, Indo-China, southern China and Taiwan to Thailand and the Malesian region (Java, the Lesser Sunda Islands, Sulawesi, the Moluccas and the Philippines).

Uses

Decoctions of young branches are used internally against haematuria and irregular or painful menstruation. A. sanguinolenta is cultivated as an ornamental, particularly the purplish tinged form, e.g. in Java.

Observations

• A perennial, erect or clambering herb up to 200 cm tall, sometimes branched, internodes often longer than 3 cm.
• Leaves alternate or opposite, ovate-elliptical, oblong or lanceolate, 1.5-7.5 cm × 0.5-4.5 cm.
• Spikes up to 5 cm long, partly in the axil of normal leaves, partly in the axil of bracts and often forming a loosely branched paniculate inflorescence.
• Tepals 2-2.5 mm long, stigma 1, entire or obscurely 2-lobed.
• Fruiting spike dense and thick, not easily breaking up.

A. sanguinolenta is locally common in abandoned fields, brushwood and hedges, in Java up to 200 m altitude, but in Indo-China up to 2000 m.

Selected sources

• Backer, C.A., 1949. Amaranthaceae. In: van Steenis, C.G.G.J. (General editor): Flora Malesiana. Series 1, Vol. 4. Noordhoff Kolff, Djakarta, Indonesia. pp. 69-98.
• Backer, C.A., 1951. Phytolaccaceae. In: van Steenis, C.G.G.J. (General editor): Flora Malesiana. Series 1, Vol. 4. Noordhoff Kolff, Djakarta, Indonesia. pp. 228-232.
• 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.
• Kloppenburg Versteegh, J., 1934. Wenken en raadgevingen betreffende het gebruik van Indische planten, vruchten, enz. [Hints and recommendations on the use of East Indies plants, fruits etc.] G.T.C. van Dorp, Semarang, Surabaya, Bandung, Dutch East Indies. (5th Edition. 1978. Servire, Katwijk aan Zee, the Netherlands). 364 pp.
• Larsen, K., 1989. Caryophyllales. In: Lescot, M. (Editor): Flore du Cambodge, du Laos et du Viêtnam [Flora of Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam]. Vol. 24. Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle, Paris, France. 144 pp.
• Lin, T. S. & Kao, M. T., 1996. Amaranthaceae. In: Huang, T. C. (Editor): Flora of Taiwan. 2nd Edition. Vol. 2. Epoch Publishing Co., Taipei, Taiwan, Republic of China. pp. 388-409.
• Singh, S.S., 1992. Rooting and regeneration potential of stem cuttings of Aerva sanguinolenta L. as influenced by ethyl hydrogen 1 propyl phosphonate (Niagara). Acta Botanica Indica 20(2): 294-296.
• Singh, S.S. & Paliwal, G.S., 1985. Effect of stik on rooting and regeneration of stem cuttings of Aerva sanguinolenta. Current Science (Bangalore) 54(18): 920-923.
• Townsend, C.C., 1974. Notes on Amaranthaceae-2. Kew Bulletin 29(3): 461-475.
• Townsend, C.C., 1980. Amaranthaceae. In: Dassanayake, M.D. & Fosberg, F.R. (Editors): A revised handbook to the flora of Ceylon. Vol. 1. Amerind Publishing Co., New Delhi, India. pp. 1-57.
• Verma, H.N. & Srivastava, A., 1985. A potent systematic inhibitor of plant virus infection from Aerva sanguinolenta Blume. Current Science (Bangalore) 54(11): 526-528.

Main genus page

• Aerva

Authors

• N. Bunyapraphatsara & R.H.M.J. Lemmens