Cleome chelidonii (PROSEA)

Plant Resources of South-East Asia Introduction

List of species

Cleome chelidonii L.f.

Protologue: Suppl. pl.: 300 (1781).

Synonyms

• Polanisia chelidonii (L.f.) DC. (1824).

Vernacular names

• Indonesia: bobowan, mamam (Javanese)
• Thailand: phak saan, phak sian paa (central)
• Vietnam: màn màn tím, mần ri tía.

Distribution

C. chelidonii occurs in India, Burma (Myanmar), Thailand, and Central and East Java.

Uses

In Indonesia, the heated sap from the leaves is dropped into the ear to cure infections, and an infusion of the whole plant is used for skin complaints. In Vietnam, the root is used as an anthelmintic.

Observations

• An annual, erect, branched herb, 15-80 cm tall, stems angular, with sparse, appressed, pale, stiff hairs with a bulbous base.
• Leaflets 6-7 below to 1-3 apically, obovate, densely appressed-hairy, central leaflet up to 4(-6) cm × 1.2(-1.8) cm, base cuneate, apex rounded to acute, firmly herbaceous, petiole 8-10 cm in lower leaves, almost absent in higher ones.
• Raceme elongated.
• Pedicel 1.5-3 cm long, flowers actinomorphic, sepals elliptical, 2-4 mm long, petals 4(-8), mostly obovate, 7-14 cm long, base narrowed, apex rounded, glabrous, light red-purple, stamens 30-40(-55), anthers 1 mm long, yellow.
• Capsule linear, parallel-veined, 6-8 cm long, glabrous, beak 1-3 mm long.
• Seeds 2 mm in diameter, cleft open, warty with scattered scales, dull blackish.

C. chelidonii occurs in fallow rice fields, sugar cane fields on heavy clay, and freshwater swamps, in Java below 100 m altitude, and is sometimes so abundant that the field is coloured reddish-purple by the flowers.

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.
• [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.
• [557] Koshy, J.K. & Mathew, P.M., 1985. Cytology of the genus Cleome. Cytology (Tokyo) 50(2): 283—288.
• [830] Rao, J.R., Atluri, J.B., Aluri, R.J.S. & Subbareddi, C., 1997. Floral ecology and pollination in Cleome chelidonii L. (Capparidaceae). Journal of Palynology 33(1—2): 157—164.

Main genus page

• Cleome

Authors

• F.I. Windadri