Hedyotis verticillata (PROSEA)

Plant Resources of South-East Asia Introduction

List of species

Hedyotis verticillata (L.) Lamk

Protologue: Tabl. encycl. 1: 271 (1792).

Synonyms

• Oldenlandia verticillata L. (1767),
• Hedyotis hispida Retz. (1786).

Vernacular names

• Malaysia: (rumput) sebueh, rumput chengkering, lidah tiong
• Philippines: salasik-lupa (Tagalog), bongat (Manobo), bosingau (Iloko)
• Thailand: tong haeng hin (peninsular)
• Vietnam: an diền vòng.

Distribution

From India, the Himalayas and southern China, the Andaman and Nicobar Islands and throughout South-East Asia.

Uses

In Peninsular Malaysia and India, the aerial parts are made into poultices and applied for headache, and upon the abdomen of small children for stomach-ache. A decoction of the plant is drunk for dysentery.

Observations

• A perennial, spreading herb, 15-100 cm tall, glabrous or hispid, taproot stout.
• Leaves elliptical, oblong to linear-lanceolate, 1.5-9 cm × 0.2-1.5 cm, pointed at both ends, scabrid, rigid, sessile.
• Cyme axillary, flowers rarely solitary.
• Calyx tube glabrous or pubescent, lobes triangular, corolla 4-5 mm long, lobes on outside with a few hairs at apex.
• Capsule ovoid, 2.5-3 mm long, glabrous, calyx lobes close together at apex.

H. verticillata occurs in sunny to lightly shaded, dry, less fertile, open localities, on sandy soils, in old clearings, teak forest and thickets, from sea-level up to 1600 m altitude. It is becoming an increasingly important weed in Malaysian plantations.

Selected sources

• [135] 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.

Main genus page

• Hedyotis

Authors

• Isa Ipor