Desmodium sequax (PROSEA)

Plant Resources of South-East Asia Introduction

List of species

Desmodium sequax Wallich

Protologue: Pl. asiat. rar. 2: 46, t. 157 (1831).

Synonyms

• Desmodium sinuatum (Miq.) Blume ex Baker (1876),
• Desmodium ancistrotrichum K. Schumann & Lauterb. (1901).

Vernacular names

• Papua New Guinea: ufi pata (Kabiufa, Eastern Highlands).

Distribution

From India eastward to China and Taiwan and southward to Malesia; in Malesia common throughout the region.

Uses

In Papua New Guinea, the chewed leaf is spat onto wounds, apparently for its antiseptic properties. The root is included in mixtures used to alleviate toothache. In China, it is considered a diaphoretic.

Observations

• A shrub, up to 200 cm tall, young branches hairy.
• Leaves 3-foliolate, stipules lanceolate, 4-7 mm long, terminal leaflet ovate to obovate or rhomboid, 3.5-14 cm × 2.3-8 cm, larger than the lateral ones, subcoriaceous, upper surface glabrescent, lower surface hairy.
• Inflorescence a raceme, rarely branched.
• Flowers in pairs, calyx 4-lobed, hairy, corolla pink, purple to violet-red, androecium monadelphous.
• Pod 30-40 mm × 2.5-3.5 mm, (6-)8-13-jointed, articles 3-4 mm long, densely covered with hooked hairs.
• Seeds 1.9-2.2 mm × 1.5-1.8 mm, rim-arillate.

In Malesia, D. sequax is confined to higher altitudes, at 500-2400 m, mostly in open places, not in dry regions. In Vietnam it is found along water courses, in grassland, open places and forest margins at 200-1600 m altitude.

Selected sources

• 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.
• Dy Phon, P., Ohashi, H. & Vidal, J.E., 1994. Légumineuses - Desmodiées [Leguminosae (Fabaceae) Papilionoideae - Desmodieae]. In: Lescot, M., Vidal, J.E. & Vidal, Y. (Editors): Flore du Cambodge, du Laos et du Viêtnam [Flora of Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam]. Vol. 27. Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle, Paris, France. 154 pp.
• Holdsworth, D.K., 1977. Medicinal plants of Papua New Guinea. Technical Paper No 175. South Pacific Commission, Noumea, New Caledonia. 123 pp.
• Huang, T. C. & Ohashi, H., 1993. Leguminosae. In: Huang, T. C. (Editor): Flora of Taiwan. 2nd Edition. Vol. 3. Editorial Committee of the Flora of Taiwan, Taipei, Taiwan, Republic of China. pp 160-395.
• Knaap van Meeuwen, M.S., 1962. Preliminary revisions of some genera of Malaysian Papilionaceae V. A census of the genus Desmodium. Reinwardtia 6(3): 239-276.
• Ohashi, H., 1973. The Asiatic species of Desmodium and its allied genera (Leguminosae). Ginkgoana No 1. Academia Scientific Books, Tokyo, Japan. 318 pp.
• Perry, L.M., 1980. Medicinal plants of East and Southeast Asia. Attributed properties and uses. MIT Press, Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States & London, United Kingdom. 620 pp.
• Sprent, J.I. & McKey, D. (Editors), 1994. Advances in legume systematics. Part 5. The nitrogen factor. The Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, United Kingdom. pp. 241.
• Verdcourt, B., 1979. A manual of New Guinea legumes. Botany Bulletin No 11. Office of Forests, Division of Botany, Lae, Papua New Guinea. 645 pp.

Main genus page

• Desmodium (Medicinal plants)

Authors

N. Setyowati-Indarto & M. Brink