Morinda elliptica (PROSEA)

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Plant Resources of South-East Asia
Introduction
List of species


Morinda elliptica (Hook.f.) Ridley

Protologue: Journ. Roy. As. Soc. Straits Br. 79: 86 (1918).

Vernacular names

  • Malaysia: mengkudu daun kecil (Peninsular)
  • Thailand: muu-duu (Malay, Narathiwat), yo thuean (Chumphon), yo paa (Trang, Satun).

Distribution

Burma (Myanmar), Thailand and Peninsular Malaysia.

Uses

In Peninsular Malaysia, the leaves are used to treat fever, cholera, diarrhoea, convulsions, loss of appetite and headache; they are also applied externally, pounded or as a lotion, to treat wounds, haemorrhoids, and are also administered after childbirth. The root bark is used to treat fishing nets and sails.

Observations

  • A small to medium-sized tree up to 16 m tall.
  • Leaves narrowly to broadly elliptical, up to 18 cm × 9 cm.
  • Inflorescence a terminal cluster of 2-3 peduncled heads up to 1 cm in diameter; corolla tube subequal to lobes, white.
  • Compound fruit globose to ovoid, up to 2 cm long, ripening black.


M. elliptica occurs in secondary forest and open habitats, and is common.

Selected sources

121, 990. medicinals

Main genus page

Authors

  • Nguyen Tap & Nguyen Kim Bich