Clausena excavata (PROSEA)

Plant Resources of South-East Asia Introduction

List of species

Clausena excavata Burm.f.

Protologue: Fl. indica: 87, pl. 29, fig. 2 (1768).

Synonyms

• Amyris sumatrana Roxb. (1832),
• Cookia graveolens Wight & Arn. (1834),
• Clausena punctata (Roxb.) Wight & Arn. ex Steud. (1840).

Vernacular names

• Indonesia: temung (Aceh), bajetah (Sundanese), tikusan (Javanese)
• Malaysia: pokok kemantu, cherek hitam, chemama
• Philippines: buringit (Tagbanua)
• Cambodia: cantrouk san hoeut, sanitrok damrey
• Laos: tcho kou nhia, khong touang, kok ‘sa mat
• Thailand: phia faan (northern), khee phueng (eastern), huat mon (central)
• Vietnam: chùm hôi, dâm hôi, hồng bì dại.

Distribution

From the Himalayas to southern China, southern Taiwan, throughout Indo-China, Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia and the Philippines (Mindoro, Culion, Palawan, the Sulu Archipelago).

Uses

In China, Indo-China, Thailand, Peninsular Malaysia and Java, the juice from the leaves is taken for intestinal worms or cough, and, sometimes together with Curcuma longa L., for fever, malaria or colds. A decoction of the roots, flowers or leaves is taken for bowel complaints, such as colic, dyspepsia and stomach-ache. The pounded root or leaves are used as a poultice on sores, including ulceration of the nose, or sometimes for yaws. Ulcerations of the nose may also be treated by fumigation using burning leaves and bark. The pounded leaves may be applied to the head for headache. A decoction of the leaves is taken after childbirth. In Peninsular Malaysia the plant is also credited with magic virtues. In China, it is considered a bitter, tonic, astringent and emmenagogue. A poultice of the leaves is applied to treat paralysis. In Burma (Myanmar) the leaves are taken for stomach troubles.

In Java the timber is used for handles of axes; it is white and has a fine structure. The leaves are insecticidal.

Observations

• A hairy, rather strong smelling shrub, 2-4(-15) m tall, stem up to 20 cm in diameter, branching profusely.
• Rachis 15-50 cm long, leaflets 15-31, ovate to ovate-lanceolate, 2-20 cm × 1-7 cm, base very oblique, apex long or short acuminate, margin entire or slightly dentate, when adult glabrescent above, thinly hairy beneath.
• Panicle terminal, 10-45 cm × 3-15 cm, at base with several patent branches, hairy.
• Flowers 4-merous, pedicel 0.5-2 mm long, calyx minute, teeth with broad sinuses, petals ovate, 3.5-5 mm long, pale green to yellowish-white, stamens 8, filaments 1.5-3.5 mm long, base abruptly broadened, gynophore cylindrical, wider at apex, ovary ovoid, hairy, style thick, up to 1.8 mm long, more or less persistent.
• Berry broadly oblong, 1-2 cm long, reddish-pink, glabrous or thinly hairy, usually 1-seeded.

C. excavata occurs in secondary forest, brushwood and disturbed areas around villages, from sea-level up to 1500 m altitude. Two varieties are distinguished in C. excavata: var. excavata with dense soft hairs on young parts, ovary glabrous or hairy, and var. villosa Hook.f. with leaves, branches, inflorescences and ovary covered with hirsute yellow hairs.

Selected sources

• [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.
• [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.
• [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.
• [623] Ling, J.T. & Iwamasa, M., 1997. Plant regeneration from embryogenic calli of six citrus related genera. Plant Cell Tissue and Organ Culture 49(2): 145—148.
• [646] Manohara, D., Wahyuno, D., Kobayashi, T. & Oniki, M., 1993. Sooty leaf blotch of Clausena excavata, a new disease caused by Mycovellosiella clausenae sp. nov. Transactions of the Mycological Society of Japan 34(4): 423—427.
• [949] Soepadmo, E., Wong, K.M. & Saw, L.G. (Editors), 1995—. Tree flora of Sabah and Sarawak. Sabah Forestry Department, Forest Research Institute Malaysia and Sarawak Forestry Department, Kepong, Malaysia.
• [1086] Wu, T.S., Huang, S.C., Lai, J.S., Teng, C.M., Ko, F.N. & Kuoh, C.S., 1993. Chemical and antiplatelet aggregative investigation of the leaves of Clausena excavata. Phytochemistry 32(2): 449—451.
• [1087] Wu, T.S., Huang, S.C. & Wu, P.L., 1998. Lactonic carbazole alkaloids from the root bark of Clausena excavata. Chemical and Pharmaceutical Bulletin Tokyo 46(9): 1459—1461.
• [1088] Wu, T.S., Huang, S.C., Wu, P.L. & Teng, C.M., 1996. Carbazole alkaloids from Clausena excavata and their biological activity. Phytochemistry 43(1): 133—140.

Main genus page

• Clausena

Authors

• G.H. Schmelzer