Tetracera sarmentosa (PROSEA)
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Introduction |
Tetracera sarmentosa (L.) Vahl
- Protologue: Symb. bot. 3: 70 (1794).
Synonyms
Delima sarmentosa L. (1754), Tetracera asiatica (Lour.) Hoogl. (1951).
Vernacular names
- Indonesia: sengkerit akar (Sumatra)
- Malaysia: mempelas rimau
- Vietnam: dây chiều, chặc chìu.
Distribution
From Sri Lanka, eastern India, Burma (Myanmar) to southern China, Indo-China, Thailand, Peninsular Malaysia, Sumatra and Borneo.
Uses
In Sumatra, pounded young leaves are added to water and drunk as a medication for diarrhoea. In Cambodia, the entire plant is considered medicinal. It is used as a diuretic, and in a mixture to treat blennorrhoea, and oedema of hepatic and renal origin. In combination with other plants an infusion is drunk as an antifebrile, a tonic or a depurative.
Observations
A small shrub up to 3 m tall or a liana up to 12 m long, with scabrid branches; leaves oblong, (3-)5-11(-15) cm × (1.5-)2-5(-7.5) cm, base acute, apex acute to obtuse, margin entire to distinctly dentate, scabrid, petiole 0.5-1(-1.5) cm long; inflorescence terminal, 10-25 cm × 5-15 cm, 30-150-flowered, in the basal part often with 1-4 leaves; flower about 1 cm in diameter, sepals 5, the 2 outer ones 2 mm × 1.5 mm, the 3 inner ones 4 mm × 3 mm, scabrid outside, petals 3, 3-4 mm × 2-3 mm, white, stamens whitish yellow, carpels 1(-2), glabrous, 10-12 ovuled; capsule ovoid, 6-10 mm × 4-6 mm, with a 2-5 mm long beak, glabrous, 1(-2)-seeded; seed ovoid 4 mm × 3 mm, aril up to 5 mm long, fimbriate for half to two third of its length. T. sarmentosa was formerly included in T. scandens but can be distinguished by the glabrous fruits and pentamerous calyx. The uses can be assumed to be the same as for T. scandens , where they occur sympatrically. T. sarmentosa is found in scrub along roadsides, hedges, thickets as well as primary forest, from sea-level up to 1500 m altitude. It flowers from March-November and fruits from May-February.
Selected sources
227, 372, 788.
Authors
Cheksum Supiah Tawan
