Psychotria curviflora (PROSEA)

Plant Resources of South-East Asia Introduction

List of species

Psychotria curviflora Wallich

Protologue: Roxb., Fl. ind. 2: 167 (1824).

Family: Rubiaceae

• Psychotria ophioxyloides Wallich (1824),
• Chassalia curviflora Thw. (1859),
• Chasallia chartacea Craib (1931).

• Indonesia: ki kores wungu (Sundanese), tenam (Bangka)
• Malaysia: biring sigalak, lado-lado, pindul ribatan (Peninsular)
• Cambodia: trong pra na
• Thailand: khem khaao (northern), khem mai (central), khem phra (Bangkok)
• Vietnam: dơn tướng quân, xương sơn, mặt trắng.

From India and Sri Lanka to Indo-China, southern China, Thailand, Peninsular Malaysia, Indonesia (Sumatra, Java) and the Philippines.

In Peninsular Malaysia, a decoction of the roots is taken for malaria, cough and after childbirth. Crushed, they are applied as a poultice for headache, convulsions and herpes. A lotion made with the roots or the leaves is applied to cuts, wounds and ulcers, and also after childbirth. In Vietnam, an infusion of the leaves is used for fever. In Cambodia, the crushed leaves are applied to horses with wounds caused by friction from the saddle. The fruits are sometimes eaten.

• An erect shrub, 0.3-2(-4) m tall.
• Leaves oblong-elliptical to lanceolate, 8-25 cm × 2.5-7 cm, base cuneate, apex abruptly acuminate and obtuse, glabrous, petiole 1-2.5(-6) cm long, stipules broadly triangular, slightly fused at the base, deeply 2-fid to shortly 2-lobed, becoming corky.
• Inflorescence corymbiform, crowded, 2.5-6 cm long, peduncle short.
• Flowers subsessile, white, pink or violet, base yellow, calyx 1.5 mm long, glabrous, corolla tube variable, 4-9 mm long, variably curved, sparsely pubescent inside, lobes 2–6 mm long, stamens inserted in upper part of corolla.
• Drupe globose, 6-8 mm long, hardly ribbed; seed semiglobose.

P. curviflora occurs commonly in humid lowland, hills and lower montane forests, from sea-level up to 2000 m altitude. Some of the synonyms represent merely a large polyploid race (P. ophioxyloides) or other subpopulations of this variable species.

• [74] Backer, C.A. & Bakhuizen van den Brink Jr, R.C., 1964—1968. Flora of Java. 3 volumes. Noordhoff, Groningen, the Netherlands. Vol. 1 (1964) 647 pp., Vol. 2 (1965) 641 pp., Vol. 3 (1968) 761 pp.
• [126] Bremer, B., 1996. Phylogenetic studies within Rubiaceae and relationships to other families based on molecular data. In: Robbrecht, E., Puff, C. & Smets, E. (Editors): Second International Rubiaceae Conference. Proceedings. Opera Botanica Belgica 7: 33—50.
• [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.
• [215] Council of Scientific and Industrial Research, 1948—1976. The wealth of India: a dictionary of Indian raw materials & industrial products. 11 volumes. Publications and Information Directorate, New Delhi, India.
• [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.
• [788] Pételot, A., 1952—1954. Les plantes médicinales du Cambodge, du Laos et du Vietnam [The medicinal plants of Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam]. 4 volumes. Centre National de Recherches Scientifiques et Techniques, Saigon, Vietnam.
• [838] A revised handbook to the flora of Ceylon (various editors), 1980—2000. Volume 1—9. Amerind Publishing Co., New Delhi, India. Volume 10—14. A.A. Balkema, Rotterdam, the Netherlands.
• [1066] Whitmore, T.C. & Ng, F.S.P. (Editors), 1972—1989. Tree flora of Malaya. A manual for foresters. 2nd Edition. 4 volumes. Malayan Forest Records No 26. Longman Malaysia Sdn. Berhad, Kuala Lumpur & Petaling Jaya, Malaysia.

• Psychotria

• H.C. Ong & S. Brotonogoro