Desmodium triflorum (PROSEA)

Plant Resources of South-East Asia Introduction

List of species

Desmodium triflorum (L.) DC.

Protologue: Prodr. 2: 334 (1825).

Synonyms

• Hedysarum triflorum L. (1753),
• Desmodium parvifolium Blanco (1845).

Vernacular names

• Indonesia: daun mules (general), semanggen (Javanese), jukut jarem (Sundanese)
• Malaysia: rumput barek sisek putih, sisek tenggiling
• Philippines: kaliskis-dalag (Tagalog), himbispuyo (Visaya), gumadep (Ifugao)
• Cambodia: smau kaè lolook
• Thailand: ya-klethoi, ya-tanhoi (central), ya-tansai (northern)
• Vietnam: hàn the.

Distribution

Pantropical; a common species throughout the Malesian region, Australia and the Pacific Islands.

Uses

A decoction of D. triflorum is commonly used to treat diarrhoea and dysentery in Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Thailand, as well as China, India and Sri Lanka. In the Philippines, a decoction is also used as a mouthwash and as an expectorant. In Thailand, the whole plant is used as an antipyretic and to quench thurst. In Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Laos and India the crushed plant or a poultice of the leaves is externally applied on wounds, ulcers, and for skin problems in general, apparently for its antiseptic properties. It is also used as a forage, as a green manure and ground cover.

Observations

• A much branched, mat-forming, prostrate, annual or perennial herb, 8-50 cm long, covered with hairs, rootstock woody.
• Leaves 3-foliolate, stipules obliquely lanceolate, 3.5-6 mm long, persistent, terminal leaflet obovate-oblong, obovate or obcordate, 4-14 mm × 4-12 mm, larger than the lateral ones, variably hairy beneath.
• Flowers 1-3 in leaf axils, calyx 5-lobed, hairy, corolla pink to purple, androecium diadelphous.
• Pod flat, 6-18 mm × 2-3 mm, 3-5-jointed, constricted between the rectangular articles; seed quadrangular, 1.2 mm × 1.7 mm.

D. triflorum is found on a wide range of soils, and most commonly in heavily grazed or closely cut areas.

Selected sources

• Adinarayana, D. & Syamasundar, K.V., 1982. Occurrence of a rare diholosylflavone, 2" O glucosylvitexin in Desmodium triflorum. Current Science 51(19): 936-937.
• 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.
• Banerjee, P.K. & Ghosal, S., 1969. Simple indole bases of Desmodium gangeticum (Leguminosae). Australian Journal of Chemistry 22: 275-277.
• Dy Phon, P., Ohashi, H. & Vidal, J.E., 1994. Légumineuses- Desmodiées [Leguminosae (Fabaceae) Papilionoideae- Desmodieae]. In: Lescot, M., Vidal, J.E. & Vidal, Y. (Editors): Flore du Cambodge, du Laos et du Viêtnam [Flora of Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam]. Vol. 27. Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle, Paris, France. 154 pp.
• Ghosal, S., Srivastava, R.S., Banerjee, P.K. & Dutta, S.K., 1971. Alkaloids of Desmodium triflorum. Phytochemistry 10: 3312-3313.
• Ghosal, S., Srivastava, R.S., Bhattacharya, S.K. & Debnath, P.K., 1973. Desmodium alkaloids. IV: chemical and pharmacological evaluation of D. triflorum. Planta Medica 23(4): 321-329.
• Huang, T. C. & Ohashi, H., 1993. Leguminosae. In: Huang, T. C. (Editor): Flora of Taiwan. 2nd Edition. Vol. 3. Editorial Committee of the Flora of Taiwan, Taipei, Taiwan, Republic of China. pp 160-395.
• Matthew, K.M., 1981-1988. The flora of the Tamilnadu Carnatic. 4 volumes. The Rapinat Herbarium, St. Joseph's College, Tiruchirapalli, India.
• Pedley, L. & Rudd, V.E., 1996. Fabaceae (Leguminosae) subfamily Faboideae (Papilionoideae) tribe Desmodieae. In: Dassanayake, M.D. & Clayton, W. D. (Editors): A revised handbook to the flora of Ceylon. Vol. 10. A.A. Balkema, Rotterdam, the Netherlands. pp. 149-198.
• Quisumbing, E., 1978. Medicinal plants of the Philippines. Katha Publishing Co., Quezon City, the Philippines. 1262 pp.
• Sprent, J.I. & McKey, D. (Editors), 1994. Advances in legume systematics. Part 5. The nitrogen factor. The Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, United Kingdom. pp. 241.
• 't Mannetje, L. & Jones, R.M. (Editors), 1992. Plant Resources of South East Asia. No 4. Forages. Pudoc Scientific Publishers, Wageningen, the Netherlands. 300 pp.
• Verdcourt, B., 1979. A manual of New Guinea legumes. Botany Bulletin No 11. Office of Forests, Division of Botany, Lae, Papua New Guinea. 645 pp.

Main genus page

• Desmodium (Medicinal plants)

Authors

N. Setyowati-Indarto & M. Brink