Cayratia mollissima (PROSEA)

Plant Resources of South-East Asia Introduction

List of species

Cayratia mollissima (Wallich) Gagnep.

Protologue: Notul. Syst. (Paris) 1: 345 (1911).

Synonyms

• Vitis mollissima Wallich (1824).

Vernacular names

• Malaysia: lakom gajah, kesakitan burong, akar sebenkak
• Vietnam: vác lông mềm.

Distribution

Thailand, Indo-China, Malaysia and the Philippines.

Uses

In Peninsular Malaysia, the fruits are used to poultice swellings and aches; they are also rubbed on the belly, for pain in labour. An infusion of the leaves is applied as a cooling lotion.

Observations

• An evergreen climber, 2-10 m long, stem long stiffly hairy.
• Leaves 3-foliolate, petiole up to 5 cm long, hairy, leaflets elliptical to obliquely ovate, margins serrate, both surfaces softly hairy; corymb axillary, wide-spreading, up to 7.5 cm in diameter, peduncle up to 5 cm long.
• Flowers small, dull bluish-green.
• Berry ovoid, up to 2.5 cm in diameter, white to pinkish, with crystals.

C. mollissima occurs commonly along forest margins.

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.
• [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