Hedyotis auricularia (PROSEA)

Plant Resources of South-East Asia Introduction

List of species

Hedyotis auricularia L.

Protologue: Sp. pl. 1: 101 (1753).

Synonyms

• Oldenlandia auricularia (L.) F. Muell. (1882).

Vernacular names

• Malaysia: kenikah batu, kerekah batu
• Thailand: tong haeng (peninsular)
• Vietnam: an diền tai, nh[ix] thảo.

Distribution

From the Himalayas to southern China, throughout South-East Asia, Australia and the Pacific.

Uses

In Peninsular Malaysia, the boiled leaves are rubbed on aching parts of the body or applied as a poultice on cracked skin. In India, the decoction or extract of the leaves or the whole crushed leaves are taken for intestinal problems. The leaf juice is applied for diseases of the eyes. A paste of the leaves is considered emollient and applied to abscesses and wounds. In India, the boiled leaves are eaten with rice.

Observations

• A perennial, suberect to diffuse, hairy herb, 30-100 cm tall.
• Leaves ovate-lanceolate to lanceolate, 4-12 cm × 1-4 cm, upper surface glabrous or scabrid, hairy beneath, petiole 4-15 mm long, interpetiolar stipules triangular, setae 3–-7.
• Cyme axillary, small, dense.
• Calyx lobes small, corolla tube glabrous outside, inside pubescent at base, lobes with some short bristles at apex.
• Fruit ovoid, 1.5 mm in diameter, indehiscent, clasped by the persistent calyx.

H. auricularia occurs in thickets, forests, wet grassland, shady roadsides, rubber, tea or cinchona plantations or along water sides, at 10-1600 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.
• [107] Bhakuni, D.S., Gupta, N.C., Satish, S., Sharma, S.C., Shukla, Y.N. & Tandon, J.S., 1971. Chemical constituents of Actinodaphne angustifolia, Croton sparsiflorus, Duabanga sonneratiodes, Glycosmis mauritiana, Hedyotis auricularia, Lyonia ovalifolia, Micromelum pubescens, Pyrus pashia and Rhododendron niveum. Phytochemistry 10(9): 2247—2249.
• [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.
• [684] Mohamed, S., Saka, S., El Sharkawy, S.H., Ali, A.M. & Muid, S., 1996. Antimycotic screening of 58 Malaysian plants against plant pathogens. Pesticide Science 47(3): 259—264.
• [702] Mukherjee, A., Chavan, S.R. & Dutta, N.K., 1967. Pharmacological actions of an alkaloidal fraction isolated from Hedyotis auricularia, Linn. and H. hispida Retz. (Rubiaceae): preliminary study. Indian Journal of Medical Research 55(10): 1103—1106.
• [807] Purushothaman, K.K. & Sarada, A., 1981. Structure of auricularine, a bis-indole alkaloid from Hedyotis auricularia. Phytochemistry 20(2): 351—352.

Main genus page

• Hedyotis

Authors

• Isa Ipor