Borreria laevis (PROSEA)

Plant Resources of South-East Asia Introduction

List of species

Borreria laevis (Lamk) Griseb.

Protologue: Goett.Abh. 7: 231 (1857).

Synonyms

• Spermacoce tenuior L. (1753),
• Spermacoce laevis Lamk (1791).

Vernacular names

• Indonesia: jugul, katumpang lemah (Sundanese)
• Papua New Guinea: kanan (Lalibu, Southern Highlands)
• Philippines: akupao
• Vietnam: ruột gà lá nhẵn.

Distribution

Native to tropical America, nowadays almost pantropical, throughout South-East Asia, not recorded from Kalimantan.

Uses

In Papua New Guinea, the leaves, mixed with the scraped roots of Desmodium sequax , rhizomes of wild ginger and ash, are applied for toothache. In the West Indies, a decoction of the plant is used for colds, and as an emmenagogue. The crushed plant is applied to cuts and burns.

Observations

• An erect, annual to perennial herb, mainly branched from the base, stems decumbent or ascending, 15-50 cm tall, normally conspicuously reddish-brown, slender, quadrangular or ribbed, taproot long, thin.
• Leaves oblong-lanceolate, 2.5-6 cm × 0.8-2 cm, apex acuminate, glabrous, usually tinged dark purple, lateral veins conspicuous below; fascicles axillary, dense, filiform bracts between flowers visible.
• Calyx narrowly obconical, sparsely hairy, 4-lobed, lobes narrow, 0.5-1 mm long, corolla funnel-shaped, about 3 mm long, white, tube glabrous inside, lobes ovate, often purplish-rimmed, inside sparsely hairy.
• Capsule obconical, 2-3 mm long.
• Seed oblong, 1.5-2 mm long, transversely wrinkled, brown.

B. laevis occurs in regions with a short or pronounced rainy season, on sunny or lightly shaded localities, in grassland, along roadsides, in rice fields, often on hard soils, often abundant, from sea-level up to 1200(–-2000) 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.
• [696] Morton, J.F., 1981. Atlas of medicinal plants of Middle America. Bahamas to Yucatan. Charles C. Thomas, Springfield, Illinois, United States. 1420 pp.

Main genus page

• Borreria

Authors

• L.M. Noriel