Borreria hispida (PROSEA)

Plant Resources of South-East Asia Introduction

List of species

Borreria hispida (L.) K. Schum.

Protologue: Engl. & Prantl, Nat. Pflanzenfam. 4(4): 144 (1891).

Synonyms

• Spermacoce hispida L. (1753),
• Spermacoce articularis L.f. (1781),
• Borreria articularis (L.f.) F.N. Williams (1905).

Vernacular names

• Shaggy button weed (En)
• Indonesia: bulu lutung (Sundanese), gempur watu, kertas watu (Javanese)
• Malaysia: rumput susur, rumput setawar, rumput sumpu
• Philippines: landrina (Tagalog), ligad-ligad (Sulu)
• Vietnam: dây ruột gà, rau chiên lông.

Distribution

From India to southern China and Japan, throughout South-East Asia.

Uses

In Peninsular Malaysia and China, the leaves are applied in poultices to treat headache, and also to wounds or sores. In the Philippines, a decoction of the leaves is considered an astringent and used to treat haemorrhoids. A decoction of the roots is used as a mouthwash for toothache. In Taiwan, the aerial parts are taken as a febrifuge. In Indo-China, the plant is considered emetic. In India, a decoction of the root is used as an alterative. The seeds are considered cooling and demulcent, and are given in diarrhoea and dysentery.

Observations

• An annual to perennial, variable, creeping to erect, branched, short hairy herb, up to 15 cm tall, branches quadrangular, greenish or purplish, taproot stout.
• Leaves spatulate or elliptical, sometimes ovate, 1-–4.5 cm × 0.5-1.5 cm, apex rounded or acute, margin undulate or not; fascicles axillary, 4-6-flowered.
• Calyx 4-lobed, linear-lanceolate, 2-4 mm long, corolla funnel-shaped, 5-10 mm long, pale blue or white, a ring of hairs inside, just above base of tube, lobes lanceolate, outside hairy.
• Capsule ovoid, 4-5 mm long, hairy.
• Seed variable, oblong, up to 3 mm long, granulate.

B. hispida occurs behind beaches, in dry gardens, teak forests, along steep roadsides, on sandy soils, locally abundant, from sea-level up to 500 m altitude.

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.
• [335] Ganesan T. & Krishnaraju, J., 1995. Antifungal properties of wild plants II. Advances in Plant Sciences 8(1): 194—196.
• [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.
• [810] Quisumbing, E., 1978. Medicinal plants of the Philippines. Katha Publishing Co., Quezon City, the Philippines. 1262 pp.
• [838] A revised handbook to the flora of Ceylon (various editors), 1980—2000. Volume 1—9. Amerind Publishing Co., New Delhi, India. Volume 10—14. A.A. Balkema, Rotterdam, the Netherlands.

Main genus page

• Borreria

Authors

• L.M. Noriel