Cynanchum ovalifolium (PROSEA)

Plant Resources of South-East Asia Introduction

List of species

Cynanchum ovalifolium Wight

Family: Asclepiadaceae

Synonyms

• Cynanchum javanicum (Koorders) Bakh. v.d. Brink,
• Marsdenia javanicum (Koorders) Bakh. v.d. Brink.

Vernacular names

• Indonesia: sayor makan darat (the Moluccas)
• Malaysia: akar banoh jantan.

Distribution

From the Indian subcontinent through Malesia to Australia.

Uses

Leaves, which are very bitter, and young fruits are eaten in the Moluccas.

Observations

• Slender herbaceous vine with white latex.
• Leaf-blade ovate-oblong to lanceolate, 5-14 cm × 2-7 cm, discolorous; petiole 2-4 cm long, at nodes with small to large (1 cm long) stipule-like or leaf-like stipular structures.
• Fruit a fusiform-ovoid follicle, 7.5-10 cm × 3-3.5 cm.

In brushwood, hedges and open places up to 1000 m altitude.

Selected sources

7, 35, 42.