Psychotria rostrata (PROSEA)

Plant Resources of South-East Asia Introduction

List of species

Psychotria rostrata Blume

Protologue: Bijdr. fl. Ned. Ind.: 961 (1826).

Family: Rubiaceae

Psychotria rostrata Blume - 1, flowering branch; 2, flower; 3, opened corolla; 4, fruit; 5, stone; 6, seed

Synonyms

• Chasalia rostrata Miq. (1857).

Vernacular names

• Malaysia: nyarum, sedoman, segerang (Peninsular).

Distribution

Peninsular Malaysia, Sumatra, Borneo.

Uses

In Peninsular Malaysia, the leaves in decoction are taken for constipation. The wood is little used, mainly for fencing or firewood. As wood tar, it is used for blackening teeth.

Observations

• A slender, erect shrub, 1-3 m tall, leaf-bearing nodes alternating with leafless nodes, 1-1.5 cm long.
• Leaves elliptical to narrowly lanceolate, 10-22 cm × 1.5-9 cm, base acute, apex long tapering, acute, glabrous, conspicuously veined, petiole 0.5-1.7 cm long, stipules of leaf-bearing nodes minute, soon caducous, of leafless nodes tubiform, larger, long-persistent.
• Panicle 1.5-6 cm long, slender, glabrous, peduncle 0.5-3 cm long.
• Flowers homostylous, white, pedicel short, calyx campanulate, 1-2 mm long, corolla tube 2 mm long, lobes 4, minute, 1 mm long, inside below throat with hairy ring, stamens inserted at ring, slightly exserted, style enclosed.
• Berry ellipsoid, globose or obovoid, base broad or narrowed, 7-12 mm long, weakly 4-5-ribbed, orange, pale when dry.

P. rostrata is a variable species and is common in lowland forest, from 50-1000 m altitude.

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.
• [578] Lajis, N.H., Mahmud, Z. & Toia, R.F., 1993. The alkaloids of Psychotria rostrata. Planta Medica 59: 383—384.
• [641] Mahmud, Z., Musa, M., Ismael, N. & Lajis, N.H., 1993. Cytotoxic and bacteriocidal activities of Psychotria rostrata. International Journal of Pharmacognosy 31(2): 142—146.
• [786] 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.
• [1066] Whitmore, T.C. & Ng, F.S.P. (Editors), 1972—1989. Tree flora of Malaya. A manual for foresters. 2nd Edition. 4 volumes. Malayan Forest Records No 26. Longman Malaysia Sdn. Berhad, Kuala Lumpur & Petaling Jaya, Malaysia.

Main genus page

• Psychotria

Authors

• H.C. Ong & S. Brotonogoro