Oldenlandia herbacea (PROSEA)

Plant Resources of South-East Asia Introduction

List of species

Oldenlandia herbacea (L.) Roxb.

Protologue: Fl. ind. 1: 445 (1820).

Synonyms

• Hedyotis herbacea L. (1753).

Vernacular names

• Vietnam: an diền cỏ.

Distribution

Tropical and subtropical Africa and Asia, including the whole of Malesia.

Uses

O. herbacea has been reported to be used medicinally in Peninsular Malaysia, without specification.

Observations

• An erect or ascending slender annual or perennial herb up to 50(-60) cm long, usually much-branched, branches 4-winged.
• Leaves linear-lanceolate to linear, up to 3(-5.5) cm long.
• Flowers axillary, solitary, sometimes 2(-4) together, corolla white to purplish.
• Fruit subglobular, small, about 2.5 mm long.
• Seeds ovoid to ellipsoid, reticulate.

O. herbacea occurs in open places such as fields, grasslands and roadsides, often on stony or sandy soils, up to 1500 m altitude.

Selected sources

• [97] 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.
• [202] 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.
• [921] Matthew, K.M., 1981-1988. The flora of the Tamilnadu Carnatic. 4 volumes. The Rapinat Herbarium, St. Joseph's College, Tiruchirapalli, India.

Main genus page

• Oldenlandia (Medicinal plants)

Authors

• N.O. Aguilar & R.H.M.J. Lemmens