Cayratia japonica (PROSEA)

Plant Resources of South-East Asia Introduction

List of species

Cayratia japonica (Thunb.) Gagnep.

Protologue: Notul. Syst. (Paris) 1: 349 (1911).

Synonyms

• Vitis japonica Thunb. (1784),
• Cissus japonica Willd. (1797),
• Cissus obovata Lawson (1875).

Vernacular names

• Sorrel vine (En)
• Indonesia: dudugan (Siberut)
• Malaysia: lakum, charek merah, pokok riang hutan
• Vietnam: vác nhật.

Distribution

From Japan and southern China to Indo-China, Malesia and Australia; common in Peninsular Malaysia. Recently occurring as an adventive in Texas (United States).

Uses

In Peninsular Malaysia, the boiled leaves, together with onion and lime, are applied to the head for violent headaches. The dried and powdered flowers might be employed for fever. In Sumatra (Indonesia), the aerial parts are applied for fever and malaria. In India, the stem bark is used as an antidote. The long stems can be used for tying purposes.

Observations

• A rather small, usually evergreen climber, 2-4 m long, stem ridged, often reddish when young, hairy mainly at nodes, tendrils 2-3-fid, usually glabrous, tuber small or absent, root system large.
• Leaves pedate, usually 5-foliolate, petiole 4-8 cm long, central leaflet broadly lanceolate to ovate, 6-10 cm × 3-5.5 cm, lateral leaflets ovate, 3-7(-11) cm × 2-3.5 cm, margins serrate, both surfaces pubescent.
• Inflorescence axillary, cymose corymbiform, primary branches 3, 6-12 cm × 3-4 cm, peduncle 4-8 cm long.
• Flowers small, greenish-white to yellowish; berry subglobose, up to 1 cm in diameter, purplish-blue to black, sometimes white, 2-4-seeded.

C. japonica is a variable hairy species, and occurs usually along rainforest margins, brushwood and village margins, from sea-level up to 1500 m altitude.

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.
• [563] Kou, K.C., Kao, C.W. & Leu, L.S., 1988. The symptoms causal organism and fungicide screening for the control of grape Cristulariella leaf spot. Plant Protection Bulletin 30(2): 111—124. (in Chinese)
• [586] Latiff, A., 1982. Flavonols, ellagic acid and anthocyanidins in leaves of some Malesian Vitaceae. Malaysian Journal of Science 6(A): 95—100.
• [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.

Main genus page

• Cayratia

Authors

• Slamet Sutanti Budi Rahayu