Sida javensis (PROSEA)

Plant Resources of South-East Asia Introduction

List of species

Sida javensis Cav.

Protologue: Diss. 1: 10, t. 1, f. 5 (1785).

Family: Malvaceae

Vernacular names

• Philippines: igat-igat, marmaraipus (Iloko), hapunang-niknik (Tagalog)
• Vietnam: bái java.

Distribution

India and South-East Asia; in Malesia, it is common in Java, Peninsular Malaysia, the Moluccas and the Philippines.

Uses

A decoction of the entire plant is used specifically against gonorrhoea.

Observations

• A prostrate herb, branched at base, with stems rooting at the nodes, more or less hairy.
• Leaves orbicular-ovate, 0.5-6 cm long, entire or trilobed, base cordate, apex pointed, margins crenate-serrate, palmiveined, petiole 0.5-6 cm long, stipules equal.
• Flowers normally solitary, pedicel 10-25 mm long, petals obovate, emarginate, 7 mm long, yellow.
• Mericarps 5, tetrahedral with rounded angles, 3-5 mm long, awns 2, 1-2 mm long, slender, short hairy.

S. javensis grows along roadsides, in teak forests, secondary growths, forest edges, from sea-level up to 1500 m altitude, mainly restricted to areas with a dry season. Two subspecies are distinguished: subsp. javensis , with usually trilobed, pointed leaves, pedicel 20-25 mm long, accrescent to 35 mm, calyx 6-7 mm in diameter, stems sparsely stellate-hairy, and subsp. expilosa Borss. Waalk., with entire, obtuse leaves, pedicel 7-15 mm long, accrescent to 20 mm, calyx 4 mm in diameter, and densely hairy stems and petioles. The 2 subspecies have a similar ecology and distribution.

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.
• [810] Quisumbing, E., 1978. Medicinal plants of the Philippines. Katha Publishing Co., Quezon City, the Philippines. 1262 pp.

Main genus page

• Sida

Authors

• Balu Perumal