Vernonia cinerea (PROSEA)

Plant Resources of South-East Asia Introduction

List of species

1, flowering plant; 2, flower head; 3, flower; 4, achene without inner pappus row (Achmad Satiri Nurhaman)

Vernonia cinerea (L.) Less.

Protologue: Linnaea 4: 291 (1829).

Synonyms

• Conyza cinerea L. (1753),
• Vernonia leptophylla DC. (1836).

Vernacular names

• Vernonia (En). Little ironweed (Am)
• Indonesia: maryuna (Javanese), sasawi langit (Sundanese), buyung-buyung (Malay, Moluccas)
• Malaysia: rumput tahi babi, tambak-tambak (Peninsular)
• Philippines: kolong-kugon (Bisaya), agas-moro (Ilokano), bulak-manok (Tagalog)
• Thailand: kaan thuup (south-eastern), yaa dok khaao (central), yaa saam wan (northern)
• Vietnam: bâc dầu, dạ hương ngưu.

Distribution

Originally from the Old World, but now a pantropical weed. In Malesia, it is common throughout the region.

Uses

Ground leaves or a poultice of leaves is a well-known remedy for headache and, when mixed with a little lime, they are also used to dress wounds. The leaves, either ground or as a decoction, are also applied against skin diseases. In Indo-China and the Philippines, a decoction of the root is used against diarrhoea and stomach-ache. An infusion of the plant is administered in the treatment of cough. In Thailand, the leaves are used in the treatment of asthma and bronchitis. The young shoots are eaten as a cooked vegetable in Java.

Observations

• An erect herb, 15-80 cm tall, sometimes branched in the upper part, roots crowded, short.
• Leaves variable, lower ones 3-9 cm × 1.5-3.5 cm, upper ones 1-7 cm × 0.3-1.5 cm.
• Inflorescence a terminal panicle, compound and corymbose, 5-35 cm × 5-15 cm, consisting of numerous heads.
• Head turbinate, 20-25-flowered, involucre 3-4-seriate, much shorter than the head, 4-5 mm long, tomentose, corolla 3.5-4.5 mm long, tubular.
• Fruit 1.5-2(-2.5) mm long, cylindrical, faintly ribbed, appressed whitish pubescent, densely brownish glandular, pappus biseriate, outer elements shorter and broader than inner ones, inner setae 4-5 mm long, caducous, white.

V. cinerea is very polymorphic, and may be divided into several varieties. It flowers throughout the year and grows on a wide range of soils in rather open habitats, from sea-level to 1300 m altitude.

Selected sources

• Backer, C.A., 1928-1934. Onkruidflora der Javasche suikerrietgronden. Handboek ten dienste van de suikerriet-cultuur en de rietsuiker-fabricage op Java [Weed flora of Javanese sugar-cane fields. Handbook for the cultivation of sugar-cane and manufacturing of cane-sugar in Java]. Vereeniging het Proefstation voor de Java-Suikerindustrie, Pasuruan, Indonesia. 4 volumes. 970 pp.
• Backer, C.A. & Bakhuizen van den Brink Jr, R.C., 1963-1968. Flora of Java. 3 volumes. Noordhoff, Groningen, the Netherlands. Vol. 1 (1963) 647 pp., Vol. 2 (1965) 641 pp., Vol. 3 (1968) 761 pp.
• 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.
• 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.
• de Padua, L.S., Lugod, G.C. & Pancho, J.V., 1977-1983. Handbook on Philippine medicinal plants. 4 volumes. Documentation and Information Section, Office of the Director of Research, University of the Philippines at Los Baños, the Philippines.
• Gagnepain, F., 1924. Composées [Compositae]. In: Gagnepain, F. (Editor): Flore générale de l'Indo-Chine [General flora of Indo-China]. Vol. 3. Masson & Cie, Paris, France. pp. 448-663.
• Gutierrez, H.G., 1980-1982. An illustrated manual of Philippine materia medica. 2 volumes. Natural Research Council of the Philippines, Tagig, Metro Manila, the Philippines. Vol. 1 (1980) pp. 1-234, Vol. 2 (1982) pp. 235-485.
• 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.
• Holm, J., Doll, J. & Holm, E., 1997. World weeds: natural histories and distribution. Wiley, New York, United States. 1129 pp.
• Isawumi, M.A., 1995. Notes on Vernonia (Vernonieae: Compositae) in West Africa. In: Hind, D.J.N., Jeffrey, C. & Pope, G.V. (Editors): Advances in Compositae systematics. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, United Kingdom. pp. 51-106.
• Kirtikar, K.R. & Basu, B.D., 1935. Indian medicinal plants. 2nd Edition, edited by Blatter, E., Caius, J.F. & Mhaskar, K.S. L.H. Basu, Allahabad, India. 4 volumes xxxvii + 2793 pp.
• Kokwaro, J.O., 1976. Medicinal plants of East Africa. East African Literature Bureau, Nairobi, Kampala, Dar es Salaam. 384 pp.
• Koster, J.T., 1935. The Compositae of the Malay Archipelago. I. Vernonieae and Eupatorieae. Blumea 1: 351-536.
• Latha, R.M., Geetha, T. & Varalakshmi, P., 1998. Effect of Vernonia cinerea Less. flower extract in adjuvant-induced arthritis. General Pharmacology 31(4): 601-606.
• Misra, T.N., Singh, R.S., Srivastava, R., Pandey, H.S., Prasad, C. & Singh, S.A., 1993. A new triterpenoid from Vernonia cinerea. Planta Medica 59(5): 458-460.
• Oliver-Bever, B., 1986. Medicinal plants in tropical West Africa. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, United Kingdom. 375 pp.
• 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.
• 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.
• Quisumbing, E., 1978. Medicinal plants of the Philippines. Katha Publishing Co., Quezon City, the Philippines. 1262 pp.
• Soerjani, M., Kostermans, A.J.G.H. & Tjitrosoepomo, G., (Editors) 1987. Weeds of rice in Indonesia. Balai Pustaka, Jakarta, Indonesia. 716 pp.

Main genus page

• Vernonia (Medicinal plants)

Authors

• B. Ibnu Utomo & J.L.C.H. van Valkenburg