Sida rhombifolia (PROSEA)

Plant Resources of South-East Asia Introduction

List of species

Sida rhombifolia L.

Protologue: Sp. pl. 2: 684 (1753).

Family: Malvaceae

Sida rhombifolia L. - 1, flowering and fruiting branch; 2, types of leaves; 3, flower; 4, capsule; 5, seed

Synonyms

• Sida retusa L. (1763).

Vernacular names

• Queensland hemp, Cuba jute, arrowleaf sida (En)
• Indonesia: sadagori (Sundanese), sidaguri (Sumatra, Java), taghuri (Madurese)
• Malaysia: sendaguri, seleguri padang, bunga padang (Peninsular)
• Papua New Guinea: sipuni (Kurereda, Northern Province), sihuhu (Hegata, Oro Province), irimo irimo (Papa, Central Province)
• Philippines: ualis-haba (Tagalog), basbasot (Iloko), baseng-baseng (Bisaya)
• Laos: nha kat mone
• Thailand: khatmon (central), yaa khat (northern), yaa pat mae maai (Bangkok)
• Vietnam: ké hoa vàng, ké dồng tiền, bạch dới.

Distribution

Widely distributed in the tropics as a weed.

Uses

In the Philippines and Indonesia, a paste of the leaves mixed with coconut oil of S. rhombifolia is applied to scurf and itch. The flowers are applied to wasp stings or eaten with wild ginger to ease labour pains. In Malaysia, the plant has been used to treat pulmonary tuberculosis. In Fiji and Papua New Guinea, the leaves are used to treat strained muscles, labour pains and migraine. Roots are chewed against dysentery. It is considered a plant with magical properties in Malaysia.

Observations

• An erect or semi-procumbent, much-branched herb or shrub, 30-150 cm tall, with tough, hairy stems.
• Leaves rhomboid to oblong, broadest about the middle, apex narrowed to emarginate, surfaces green, or grey underneath, petiole 2-4 cm long, stipules equal.
• Flowers solitary or in clusters of 2-5, pedicel 30-40 mm long, petals oblique, 7-12 mm long, yellow.
• Mericarps 8-12, flattened trigonous, 2.5 mm long, awns 0-2, 1-3 mm long, glabrous or stellately pubescent.

S. rhombifolia is common along roadsides, lawns, waste places, coconut plantations, scattered in grassy plains, from sea-level to 1200 m altitude. Two subspecies are distinguished, subsp. rhombifolia, with an erect habit, rhomboid or lanceolate leaves, pedicels much longer than petioles, corolla 15-17 mm in diameter, and subsp. retusa (L.) Borss. Waalk., with a prostrate habit, obovate, often emarginate leaves, pedicels as long as petioles, corolla 20-25 mm in diameter. Because of the differences between the two subspecies some authors recognize them at species level.

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.
• [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.
• [143] Cambie, R.C. & Ash, J., 1994. Fijian medicinal plants. Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation, Canberra, Australia. 350 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.
• [418] Holdsworth, D.K., 1977. Medicinal plants of Papua New Guinea. Technical Paper No 175. South Pacific Commission, Noumea, New Caledonia. 123 pp.
• [739] Nguyen Van Duong, 1993. Medicinal plants of Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos. Mekong Printing, Santa Ana, California, United States. 528 pp.
• [785] Perrotta, D.M., Coody, G. & Culmo, C., 1996. Adverse events associated with ephedrine-containing products. Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (Texas, USA) 45(32): 689—691.
• [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.
• [810] Quisumbing, E., 1978. Medicinal plants of the Philippines. Katha Publishing Co., Quezon City, the Philippines. 1262 pp.
• [943] Sivarajan, V.V. & Pradeep, A.K., 1994. Taxonomy of the Sida rhomboidea (Malvaceae) complex in India. Contibutions to Botany 16(1): 63—78.

Main genus page

• Sida

Authors

• Balu Perumal