Tetrastigma harmandii (PROSEA)

Plant Resources of South-East Asia Introduction

List of species

Tetrastigma harmandii Planchon

Family: Vitaceae

Vernacular names

• Philippines: ayo (Tagalog), alupidan (Bisaya), arinat (Ilokano)
• Cambodia: kântoop
• Laos: h'un hnhaïx
• Vietnam: day tu'thu.

Distribution

The Philippines, Indo-China.

Uses

Fruits are sour but edible; fruits and leaves also used as condiment; the stems produce a poor kind of rope. A decoction of the plant is used internally as a diuretic, externally it is applied against scabies.

Observations

• Woody vine with simple tendrils and compound leaves with 3-7 leaflets.
• Fruit a subglobose berry, ca. 1.5 cm in diameter, brownish, in clusters of 4-15.

It grows in thickets at low and medium altitudes.

Selected sources

• Brown, W.H., 1951-1957. Useful plants of the Philippines. Reprint of the 1941-1943 ed. 3 Volumes. Department of Agriculture and Natural Resources. Technical Bulletin 10. Bureau of Printing, Manila, the Philippines.

• Tyozaburo Tanaka & Sauke Nakao (Editors), 1976. Tanaka's Cyclopedia of Edible Plants of the World. Keigaku Publishing Co., Tokyo. 924 pp.

Authors

P.C.M. Jansen, J. Jukema, L.P.A. Oyen, T.G. van Lingen