Barleria cristata (PROSEA)

Plant Resources of South-East Asia Introduction

List of species

Barleria cristata L.

Protologue: Sp. pl. 2: 636 (1753).

Synonyms

• Barleria dichotoma Roxb. (1832).

Vernacular names

• Bluebell, Philippine violet (En)
• Thailand: kaan chang, luem thao yai (northern), thong ra-aa (central)
• Vietnam: hoa chông.

Distribution

Distributed from the Himalayas through India, eastwards to China, and also in the Philippines and northern Australia.

Uses

The bitter juice of the leaves or roots is used as a diaphoretic and expectorant for serious catarrhal infections. An infusion of the roots and leaves is applied to boils and sores to reduce swellings.

Observations

• An erect, branched shrub, up to 1.5 m tall, unarmed, with appressed hairy twigs.
• Leaves lanceolate to elliptical-oblong, 1-12 cm long, base attenuate, apex pointed, hairy, petiole 1-2 cm long.
• Flowers 1-3 in each axil, bracts absent or lanceolate, 8-12 mm long, bristly on margins, bracteoles absent, calyx lobes acuminate, corolla tube 3.5 cm long, outside glandular, lobes 5, unequal, white, pink or purple, fertile stamens 4, filaments hairy.
• Capsule ellipsoid, 2 cm long, 4-seeded.

B. cristata occurs in waste places and along roadsides, and is sometimes weedy.

Selected sources

• [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.
• [250] Dhar, M.L., Dhar, M.M., Dhawan, B.N., Mehrotra, B.N. & Ray, C., 1968. Screening of Indian plants for biological activity : Part I. Indian Journal of Experimental Biology 6: 232—247, 414.
• [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.
• [725] Nasir, E. & Ali, S.I. (Editors), 1970—1988. Flora of West Pakistan. No 1—188. Department of Botany, University of Karachi and National Herbarium, Pakistan Agricultural Research Council, Islamabad, Pakistan.
• [810] Quisumbing, E., 1978. Medicinal plants of the Philippines. Katha Publishing Co., Quezon City, the Philippines. 1262 pp.
• [968] Subramanian, S.S. & Nair, A.G.R., 1972. Flavonoids of Ruellia prostrata and Barleria cristata. Journal of the Indian Chemical Society 49: 825—826.

Main genus page

• Barleria

Authors

• N.O. Aguilar