Ipomoea digitata (PROSEA)

Plant Resources of South-East Asia Introduction

List of species

Ipomoea digitata L.

Protologue: Syst. nat. ed. 10: 924 (1759).

Synonyms

• Ipomoea paniculata (L.) R.Br. (1810), non Burm.f. (1768).

Vernacular names

• Malaysia: keledek hutan, akar lanar, akar keremak
• Philippines: aurorang gubat, bulakan, malakamote (Tagalog)
• Cambodia: kantram theari
• Thailand: bong len (north-eastern), phak bung rua (Bangkok), man muu (south-eastern)
• Vietnam: khoai xiêm, tầm sét.

Distribution

Circumtropical.

Uses

In Peninsular Malaysia, the root is pounded and applied to swellings. In India and the Philippines, the root is considered tonic, alterative, aphrodisiac, demulcent, lactagogue and cholagogue, and is used for fever and bronchitis. The powdered root is given for diseases of spleen and liver, for menorrhagia, debility and fat accumulation. The plant is also grown for ornamental purposes, and as a fodder for cattle. In India, the seeds are used for coagulating milk.

Observations

• A large, perennial twiner, sometimes prostrate, stems terete, roots tuberous.
• Leaves orbicular in outline, 6-14 cm × 6-16 cm, palmately divided to or mostly beyond the middle, base cordate or truncate, apex acute or blunt, mucronulate, petiole 3-10 cm long.
• Flowers in a few- to many-flowered cyme, peduncle 2.5-20 cm long, longer than petioles; pedicel 9-25 mm long, sepals subequal, 6-12 mm long, corolla funnel-shaped, tube cylindrical, 5-6 cm long, limb patent, 5-7 cm in diameter, pale red-purple, tube darker inside, filaments hairy at base, ovary glabrous.
• Capsule ovoid, obtuse, 12-14 mm long.
• Seeds 4, black, covered with long, woolly, easily detaching hairs.

I. digitata occurs in thickets on the beach, but also in waste places, hedges, savanna forests, teak forests and along roadsides, also cultivated, sometimes with variegated leaves, from sea-level up to 700 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.
• [215] Council of Scientific and Industrial Research, 1948—1976. The wealth of India: a dictionary of Indian raw materials & industrial products. 11 volumes. Publications and Information Directorate, New Delhi, India.
• [1026] van Oostrom, S.J., 1940. The Convolvulaceae of Malaysia, III. Blumea 3(3): 481—582.

Main genus page

• Ipomoea (Medicinal plants)

Authors

• Anna L.H. Dibiyantoro & G.H. Schmelzer