Dendrocnide latifolia (PROSEA)

Plant Resources of South-East Asia Introduction

List of species

Dendrocnide latifolia (Gaud.) Chew

Protologue: Gard. Bull. Sing. 21: 203 (1965).

Vernacular names

• Papua New Guinea: katche (Plitty, Manus Province).

Distribution

Marianna Islands, New Caledonia, New Hebrides, Loyalty Islands, Solomon Islands, Bougainville Island.

Uses

On Manus Island, the leaf is rubbed on body bruises and aches to act as an analgesic. A decoction of the leaves is drunk to relieve a headache. In the Solomon Islands, the boiled leaves are applied to itchy skin.

Observations

• A dioecious tree, up to 12 m tall, twigs variably pubescent, glabrescent with few irritant hairs.
• Leaves elliptical to ovate, (13-)20-26(-33) cm × 5-15 cm, base cuneate, apex acuminate, margin irregularly sinuate, entirely glabrous, petiole (3-)5-8(-13) cm long, usually densely pubescent, glabrescent, irritant hairs present, stipules 1.5-2 cm long, densely pubescent.
• Raceme branched, solitary, up to 15 cm long, with flowers in loose fascicles, bracteolate, peduncle with unevenly distributed irritant hairs.
• Male flowers sessile to subsessile, about 1.5 mm long, slightly pubescent, filaments reflexed, female flowers shortly pedicellate to subsessile, 2 or 3 in each fascicle, lateral tepals large, stigma ligulate to 2 mm long; achene 2.3 mm × 2 mm, asymmetrically obovoid, flattened, smooth to tuberculate.

Selected sources

• [439] Holdsworth, D. & Wamoi, B., 1982. Medicinal plants of the Admiralty Islands, Papua New Guinea. International Journal of Crude Drug Research 20: 169—181.439.

Main genus page

• Dendrocnide

Authors

• J.L.C.H. van Valkenburg