Asystasia nemorum (PROSEA)
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Introduction |
Asystasia nemorum Nees
- Protologue: Wallich, Pl. asiat. rar. 3: 90 (1832).
Synonyms
Asystasia blumei Nees (1847), Asystasia intrusa auct. non (Forssk.) Nees.
Vernacular names
- Indonesia: daun moreto, cili utan, luja koi (Moluccas).
Distribution
Native to central Malesia (Java to the Moluccas); introduced, probably as a medicinal plant, into Peninsular Malaysia and Singapore over a century ago, but now probably vanished.
Uses
According to an old record, the whole plant, rubbed with alum and the juice of Citrus hystrix DC., is used to treat cough with tightness of the chest in the Moluccas, whereas the leaf juice is applied to infected eyes.
Observations
An erect, widely branched herb up to 150 cm tall; leaves ovate-oblong-lanceolate, 3.5-10 cm × 2-5.5 cm, decurrent into the petiole 1-3.5 cm long; flowers crowded towards the apex of the inflorescence, calyx 4.5-7 mm long, corolla 2-3 cm long, 4-8 mm across at the mouth, ovary apically pubescent, otherwise glabrous or minutely glandular; fruit 2-3 cm long. A. nemorum occurs in shaded localities, e.g. in village-groves.
Selected sources
62, 121, 334, 473, 1034.
Main genus page
Authors
Sri Endreswari
