Peristrophe paniculata (PROSEA)

Plant Resources of South-East Asia Introduction

List of species

Peristrophe paniculata (Forsskal) Brummitt

Family: Acanthaceae

Synonyms

• Justicia bicalyculata (Retz.) Vahl,
• Peristrophe bicalyculata (Retz.) Nees.

Distribution

From Africa and Arabia to India, Indo-China, Thailand, and Peninsular Malaysia.

Uses

Suitable as a green manure and as a fodder for horses. An essential oil obtained from the plant shows tuberculostatic activity in vitro.

Observations

• Erect, hispid herb or undershrub, up to 180 cm tall.
• Leaves ovate, acuminate, pubescent.
• Inflorescence a lax panicle with axillary cymes, terminal on the inflorescence branch, with 2 linear bracts at its base.
• Flowers reddish, purple or pink.
• Fruit a pointed capsule.

P. paniculata occurs in forest undergrowth, hedges, and wasteland.

Selected sources

• Burkill, I.H., 1966. A dictionary of the economic products of the Malay Peninsula. 2nd Edition. 2 volumes. Ministry of Agriculture and Co-operatives, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. 2444 pp.
• Flora Malesiana (various editors), 1950-. Series 1. Volume 1, 4-. Kluwer, Dordrecht & Flora Malesiana Foundation, Leiden, the Netherlands.
• Ridley, H.N., 1922-1925. The flora of the Malay Peninsula. 5 volumes. L. Reeve & Co., London, United Kingdom.
• Wealth of India (various editors), 1948-1976. A dictionary of Indian raw materials and industrial products: raw materials. 11 volumes. Publications and Information Directorate, Council of Scientific and Industrial Research, New Delhi, India. 4441 pp.
• Wood, J.R.I., Hillcoat, D. & Brummitt, R.K., 1983. Notes on the types of some names of Arabian Acanthaceae in the Forsskal Herbarium. Kew Bulletin 38: 429-456.

Authors

• M.S.M. Sosef & L.J.G. van der Maesen