Breynia vitis-idaea (PROSEA)

Plant Resources of South-East Asia Introduction

List of species

Breynia vitis-idaea (Burm.f.) C.E.C. Fischer

Protologue: Kew Bull.: 65 (1932).

Synonyms

• Breynia rhamnoides (Willd.) Müll. Arg. (1866),
• Breynia officinalis Hemsley (1894),
• Breynia microcalyx Ridley (1920).

Vernacular names

• Malaysia: hujan panas, semomah, seruyan
• Philippines: matang-ulang (Tagalog), sungut-olang (Bisaya), santing (Sulu)
• Thailand: kaangplaa thale, phak wan tua phu
• Vietnam: cù dề.

Distribution

From India eastward to the Philippines and southward to Peninsular Malaysia.

Uses

In the Philippines the bark is used as an astringent to arrest haemorrhages. In Pahang, Peninsular Malaysia, the leaf juice is given after childbirth.

Observations

• A shrub or treelet up to 3 m tall, glabrous.
• Leaves ovate, 2.3-5.5 cm × 1.3-3.1 cm, length width ratio 1.8-2, base obtuse, apex obtuse, mucronulate, margin flat, papery, petiole 2-4 mm long, stipules about 2 mm long.
• Staminate flowers 1.3-1.8 mm in diameter, pedicel 3.5-5 mm long, calyx 1.5-2 mm × 1.3-1.8 mm, relatively thin, greenish, lobes about 0.3 mm long, androphore 1 mm high, anthers 0.8 mm long; pistillate flowers 1.6-5.3 mm in diameter, pedicel 2.5-4 mm long, calyx 1.3-2.8 mm long, greenish, lobes 0.4-2.2 mm wide, ovary cylindrical, about 2 mm × 1 mm, apically lobed, stigmas about 0.2 mm long, not united, not split, pointing towards each other.
• Fruit ovoid to globose, 4.6-6.3 mm × 4.6-6.7 mm, sometimes a bit spiny, with narrow apical crown, red.
• Seed 3-4.5 mm × 1.8-2.5 mm × 1.7-2.5 mm.

B. vitis-idaea is usually found scattered, in forest edges and clearings in evergreen forest, mangrove, swamp forest, bamboo thickets, along rivers and roads and near the beach, from sea-level up to 800 m altitude.

Selected sources

• [31] Airy Shaw, H.K., 1972. The Euphorbiaceae of Siam. Kew Bulletin 26: 191—363.
• [36] Airy Shaw, H.K., 1983. An alphabetical enumeration of the Euphorbiaceae of the Philippines Islands. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, United Kingdom. 56 pp.
• [128] Brown, W.H., 1951—1957. Useful plants of the Philippines. Reprint of the 1941—1943 edition. 3 volumes. Technical Bulletin 10. Department of Agriculture and Natural Resources. Bureau of Printing, Manila, the Philippines. Vol. 1 (1951) 590 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.
• [671] Merrill, E.D., 1923—1926. An enumeration of Philippine flowering plants. 4 volumes. Bureau of Printing, Manila, the Philippines.
• [810] Quisumbing, E., 1978. Medicinal plants of the Philippines. Katha Publishing Co., Quezon City, the Philippines. 1262 pp.

Main genus page

• Breynia

Authors

• P.C. van Welzen