Malvastrum coromandelianum (PROSEA)

Plant Resources of South-East Asia Introduction

List of species

Malvastrum coromandelianum (L.) Garcke

Family: Malvaceae

Synonyms

Malva coromandeliana L.

Vernacular names

• Philippines: salsaluyut, babara (Ilokano), kinay-lumpay (Tagalog).

Distribution

Of tropical American origin, but now pantropically distributed.

Uses

In the Philippines the stems are made into brooms. The bast can be twisted into rope or woven into handicrafts. Bast fibre can be extracted from the stem by retting for 1 week or more in stagnant water. It is lustrous, strong and durable, creamy white, in older stems greyish-white. The leaves are employed to treat carbuncles.

Observations

An erect, annual herb or undershrub, up to 1 m tall; stem with appressed, 4-armed stellate hairs. Leaves simple, alternate; stipules linear to lanceolate, 3-7 mm long; petiole 0.5-4 cm long; blade ovate to oblong, 2-6 cm × 0.7-4 cm, base acute, obtuse, rounded or truncate, apex obtuse to acute. Flowers axillary, often in clusters of 2-4; pedicel 2-5 mm long; epicalyx segments linear to lanceolate, shorter than the calyx; calyx widely campanulate, 5-fid, 7-9 mm long, 10-15 mm in diameter; corolla stellate, about 1.5 cm in diameter, yellow; staminal column 2-3 mm long, conical. Fruit a discoid schizocarp; mericarps 10-14. Seed reniform, up to 1.5 mm in diameter, glabrous. M. coromandelianum occurs in disturbed habitats up to about 1250 m altitude. It is sun-loving and prefers areas with a dry season. It is considered a weed in much of its range.The aerial parts of M. coromandelianum have shown analgesic effects in tests with mice.

Selected sources

6, 19, 46, 115, 131, 142, 189.

Authors

M. Brink, P.C.M. Jansen & C.H. Bosch