Leucas aspera (PROSEA)

Plant Resources of South-East Asia Introduction

List of species

Leucas aspera (Willd.) Link

Protologue: Enum. hort. berol. alt. 2: 113 (1822).

Family: Labiatae

Vernacular names

• Herbe à mouches (Fr)
• Indonesia: ngangegan (Javanese)
• Philippines: karukansoli, pansi-pansi (Tagalog), paysi-paysi (Bisaya)
• Cambodia: phlom ang kep
• Thailand: phak hua to, yaa hua to (south-western), yaa nok khao (northern)
• Vietnam: mè dất nkám.

Distribution

L. aspera is distributed from India, the Mascarenes, Burma (Myanmar), Thailand and Indo-China to Peninsular Malaysia, Java, Madura, Sulawesi, the Philippines and Papua New Guinea.

Uses

In general, the leaf sap of L. aspera is used to treat sores of the eyes and nose. In the Philippines, the bruised leaves are considered to be active against bites of poisonous insects, and in India, the smoke of dried leaves is used as an insecticide and repellant.

Observations

• An annual herb, 30-60 cm tall, stem and branches hispid, with preading hairs.
• Leaves linear-lanceolate, 4-6 cm × 0.8-1 cm, margin remotely crenate, membranaceous, tomentose on both surfaces, petiole 0.5-1 cm long, densely hispid.
• Inflorescence composed of flowers in terminal verticillasters, forming a globular head, 1.5-2.5 cm in diameter, bracts narrowly lanceolate, 8-10 mm long, ciliate along the margins.
• Calyx tubular, 8-9 mm long, only slightly enlarged in fruit, tube pilose, 10-veined, 10-toothed, mouth strongly oblique, teeth erect, posterior one largest, corolla 15-16 mm long, strongly curved, with a hairy ring inside near the middle, upper lip 2 mm long, densely velutinous, lower lip 6 mm long, sparsely pubescent.
• Nutlets narrowly ovoid, 2.5 mm × 0.8 mm, ventral surface triquetrous, dorsal side rounded, finely granulate or nearly smooth, black.

L. aspera occurs in various habitats, from seasonal to perhumid areas, mostly grassy plains, as a weed in arable crops, open dry sandy soils, waste places, teak forest, railway embankments, dunes, locally often common, from sea-level up to 500 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.
• [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.
• [335] Ganesan T. & Krishnaraju, J., 1995. Antifungal properties of wild plants II. Advances in Plant Sciences 8(1): 194—196.
• [529] Kholkute, S.D., Mudgal, V. & Deshpande, P.J., 1976. Screening of indigenous medicinal plants for anti-fertility potentiality. Planta Medica 29(2): 151—155.
• [788] Pételot, A., 1952—1954. Les plantes médicinales du Cambodge, du Laos et du Vietnam [The medicinal plants of Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam]. 4 volumes. Centre National de Recherches Scientifiques et Techniques, Saigon, Vietnam.
• [801] Prakasa Rao, C.G., 1973. Anatomical studies on abnormal growth caused by Synchytrium species on various host plants. Indian Phytopathology 26(3): 424—436.
• [810] Quisumbing, E., 1978. Medicinal plants of the Philippines. Katha Publishing Co., Quezon City, the Philippines. 1262 pp.
• [890] Selvaraj Pandian, R. & Manoharan, A.C., 1995. Herbal smoke: a potential repellent and adulticide for mosquitoes. Insect Environment 1(3): 14—15.
• [939] Singha, P., Begum, J., Chowdhury, J.U. & Anwar, M.N., 1993. Antibacterial activity of some higher plants of Chittagong University Campus (Bangladesh). Chittagong University Studies Part II: Science 17(1): 97—101.
• [1001] Thakur, D.K., Mishra, S.K. & Choudhuri, P.C., 1983. The use of Leucas aspera Spreng. and Curcuma longa L. extracts in the treatment of Trichophyton verrucosum ringworm in cattle. Sri Lanka Veterinary Journal 31(1—2): 37—39.
• [1035] Veeran-Janeyulu, K. & Das, V.S.R., 1982. Heavy metal tolerance in normal populations of some weed species. Indian Journal of Plant Physiology 25(4): 400—406.

Main genus page

• Leucas

Authors

• Marfu’ah Wardani