Clerodendrum serratum (PROSEA)

Plant Resources of South-East Asia Introduction

List of species

Clerodendrum serratum (L.) Moon

Protologue: Cat. pl. Ceylon: 46 (1824).

Synonyms

• Volkameria serrata L. (1767),
• Cyclonema serratum (L.) Hassk. (1848).

Vernacular names

• Indonesia: singgugu (Sundanese), sagunggu (Javanese), kertase (Madurese)
• Malaysia: tinjal tasek, lampin budak, mata kesang
• Laos: sa heng
• Thailand: akkhee thawaan (northern, central), khwaeng khaa (northern)
• Vietnam: ngọc nữ răng.

Distribution

From Pakistan and India eastward to central and southern China, Indo-China, Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia. Also in Mauritius, Madagascar and South Africa, possibly introduced.

Uses

In Indonesia, the leaves are consumed during labour. Pounded leaves are externally applied in various prescriptions for rheumatism and painful joints. Ripe and unripe fruits are chewed with the leaves of Piper bettle L. for coughs. They are mentioned as a remedy for cattle with stomach problems. In Malaysia, a decoction is given to relieve colic, and the flowers are consumed during labour. The plant is more commonly used for poulticing skin diseases, yaws, headache, leprosy and persistent fever, and is an ingredient of an embrocation for stiff joints. In Thailand, the dried leaves, roots or stems enter in various prescriptions for haemorrhoids. A decoction of leaves and/or stem is used as an antiflatulent, and to relieve chronic headache. Externally a poultice is applied to skin infections, leprosy and painful joints. A decoction of the stem is used as an antimalarial and to relieve abdominal pain. The wood is considered diuretic, and the root enters in a prescription as an anti-emetic, whereas the fruits are considered a cough remedy. In India, the root is used in medicine for fevers, rheumatism and dyspepsia. The leaves are used in fevers and externally applied in cephalalgia and ophthalmia; the seeds are used to some extent for oedema. In Indonesia, the shoots, raw or toasted, are consumed as a bitter seasoning.

Observations

• A shrub or treelet up to 4 m tall, or rarely seemingly herbaceous, stems relatively stout, mostly unbranched, nodes not annulate.
• Leaves elliptical to obovate, 7-22 cm × 3-8 cm, base acute to subcuneate, apex acute or short acuminate, margin serrate, glabrous on both surfaces, petiole 0.3-1.2 cm long.
• Axillary cymes 3-5 cm long, terminal racemose panicle slender, 6-45 cm long; calyx campanulate, tube 4-7 mm long, deeply dentate to truncate, bluish turning green, corolla zygomorhic, tube swollen, 5-9 mm long, posterior lobes 0.9 cm long, usually dark blue, lateral lobes usually pale blue, lower (interior) lobe deflexed, 1.5 cm long, dark purple or dark violet, showy, not fragrant, stamens long exserted, blue, fruiting calyx somewhat accrescent.
• Drupe subglobose or broadly obovoid, 6-9 mm long, glossy emerald green turning dark purple or black, not splitting.

C. serratum is found in grasslands, thickets and secondary forest from sea-level up to 1700 m altitude. Pending a full revision of Rotheca, the new combination Rotheca serrata (L.) Steane & Mabberley has already been published.

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.
• [184] Chen, J.C. & Zhu, Q.X., 2001. Two new terpenoid glucosides from Clerodendrum serratum. Pharmazie 56(3): 270—271.
• [201] Chuakul, W., Saralamp, P., Paonil, W., Temsiririrkkul, R. & Clayton, T. (Editors), 1997. Medicinal plants in Thailand. Vol. II. Department of Pharmaceutical Botany, Faculty of Pharmacy, Mahidol University, Bangkok, Thailand. 248 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.
• [407] Heyne, K., 1950. De nuttige planten van Indonesië [The useful plants of Indonesia]. 3rd Edition. 2 volumes. W. van Hoeve, 's-Gravenhage, the Netherlands/Bandung, Indonesia. 1660 + CCXLI pp.
• [688] Moldenke, H.N. & Moldenke, A.L., 1983. Verbenaceae. In: Dassanayake, M.D. & Fosberg, F.R. (Editors): A revised handbook to the flora of Ceylon. Vol. 4. Amerind Publishing Co., New Delhi, India. pp. 196—487.
• [730] Ng, F.S.P., 1991—1992. Manual of forest fruits, seeds and seedlings. 2 volumes. Malayan Forest Record No 34. Forest Research Institute Malaysia, Kepong, Malaysia. 997 pp.
• [786] 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.
• [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.
• [852] Sachdev, K.S., Vasavada, S.A. & Joseph, A.D., 1964. Antihistaminic activity of Clerodendron serratum. Indian Journal of Pharmacy 26: 105.
• [897] Setty, B.S., Kamboj, V.P., Garg, H.S. & Khanna, N.M., 1976. Spermicidal potential of saponins isolated from Indian medicinal plants. Contraception 14(5): 571—578.
• [963] Steane, D.A. & Mabberley, D.J., 1998. Rotheca (Lamiaceae) revived. Novon 8(2): 204—206.

Main genus page

• Clerodendrum

Authors

• J.L.C.H. van Valkenburg & N. Bunyapraphatsara