Vallaris solanacea (PROSEA)

Plant Resources of South-East Asia Introduction

List of species

Vallaris solanacea (Roth) O. Kuntze

Family: Apocynaceae

Synonyms

• Vallaris heynei Sprengel.

Vernacular names

• Indonesia: cungkangkang beurit (West Java)
• Malaysia: bunga tongkeng
• Cambodia: voë kâm'-baô
• Thailand: chama nat, chammanat-lek (central), ya-changnoi (northern)
• Vietnam: dây hòa liệt.

Distribution

From India to Indo-China. Occasionally also cultivated and naturalized elsewhere.

Uses

In Thailand young leaves, flowers and fruits are eaten. In India the latex is applied to sores and wounds.

Observations

• Liana, up to 20 m long, woody at base, containing white latex.
• Leaves decussate, elliptical to oblong, 5-12 cm × 2.5-4 cm, chartaceous.
• Flowers creamy white, about 2.5 cm in diameter, fragrant, in axillary, drooping cymes.
• Fruit a pair of connate follicles, cylindrical, up to 20 cm × 2.5 cm, with beaked seeds that have a tuft of white hairs.

From sea-level up to 900 m altitude. Fruiting is rare.

Selected sources

20, 57, 59, 94.