Senna sophera (PROSEA)

File:Logo PROSEA.png

Plant Resources of South-East Asia Introduction

List of species

Senna sophera (L.) Roxb.

Protologue: Fl. ind., ed. 2, 2: 347 (1832).

Synonyms

• Cassia sophera L. (1753).

Vernacular names

• Indonesia: enceng-enceng (Javanese)
• Philippines: andadasi (Iloko), tambalisa (Tagalog)
• Laos: ngot
• Thailand: phak khlet (Bangkok), phak waan baan (central)
• Vietnam: muồ ngót, muồng hòe.

Distribution

Originating from the New World tropics, but now pantropical.

Uses

In Indonesia, extracts of all plant parts are used to treat epilepsy. In the Philippines, the seeds are used to treat fever. In India, the juice of the leaves is applied against ringworm, while it is also employed as an expectorant, an anthelminthic and as a remedy for rheumatic and inflammatory fevers. Besides these applications, in Thailand the leaves are used for wound healing and as an antipyretic.

Observations

• An erect shrub, 1-2(-3) m tall, almost glabrous.
• Leaves with 4-10 pairs of leaflets, petiole 3-5 cm long, with a thin, subulate or clavate gland 5-10 mm above the petiole joint, leaflets lanceolate, 2-5(-8) cm × 1-2 cm, upper leaflets largest, base rounded, apex acute; i.
• Inflorescence an axillary corymb, few-flowered.
• Flowers with ovate sepals 5 mm long, petals obovate, 10-14 mm × 6-8 mm, yellow, 2 longer stamens with filaments 5-7 mm long and anthers 5-6 mm long, 4 shorter stamens with filaments 2 mm long and anthers 5 mm long, 3-4 staminodes, ovary pubescent, style thin, glabrous, stigma slightly dilated, strongly incurved.
• Fruit 6-10 cm × 0.5-1 cm.
• Seeds 30-40 per pod, ovoid, compressed, 3-4 mm long.

S. sophera occurs in secondary habitats such as roadsides and wast places at lower elevations.

Selected sources

• [97] Backer, C.A. & Bakhuizen van den Brink Jr, R.C., 1963-1968. Flora of Java. 3 volumes. Noordhoff, Groningen, the Netherlands. Vol. 1 (1963) 647 pp., Vol. 2 (1965) 641 pp., Vol. 3 (1968) 761 pp.
• [190] Brown, W.H., 1951-1957. Useful plants of the Philippines. Reprint of the 1941-1943 edition. 3 volumes. Technical Bulletin 10. Department of Agriculture and Natural Resources. Bureau of Printing, Manila, the Philippines. Vol. 1 (1951) 590 pp., Vol. 2 (1954) 513 pp., Vol. 3 (1957) 507 pp.
• [336] de Wit, H.C.D., 1956. A revision of the genus Cassia (Caesalp.) as occurring in Malaysia. Webbia 11: 197-292.
• [357] Ding Hou, Larsen, K. & Larsen, S.S., 1996. Caesalpiniaceae (Leguminosae-Caesalpinioideae). In: Kalkman, C., Kirkup, D.W., Nooteboom, H.P., Stevens, P.F. & de Wilde, W.J.J.O. (Editors): Flora Malesiana. Series 1, Vol. 12(2). Rijksherbarium/Hortus Botanicus, Leiden University, the Netherlands. pp. 409-730.
• [580] Heyne, K., 1950. De nuttige planten van Indonesië [The useful plants of Indonesia]. 3rd Edition. 2 volumes. W. van Hoeve, 's-Gravenhage, the Netherlands/Bandung, Indonesia. 1660 + CCXLI pp.
• [653] Irwin, H.S. & Barneby, R.C., 1982. The American Cassiinae. A synoptical revision of Leguminosae tribe Cassieae subtribe Cassiinae in the New World. Memoirs of the New York Botanical Garden 35(2): 64-635.
• [817] Larsen, K., Larsen, S.S. & Vidal, J.E., 1980. Légumineuses-Caesalpinioïdées [Leguminosae-Caesalpinioideae]. In: Vidal, J.E. & Vidal, Y. (Editors): Flore du Cambodge, du Laos et du Viêtnam [Flora of Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam]. Vol. 18. Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle, Paris, France. 227 pp.
• [1178] Quisumbing, E., 1978. Medicinal plants of the Philippines. Katha Publishing Co., Quezon City, the Philippines. 1262 pp.

Main genus page

• Senna (Medicinal plants)

Authors

• Anny Victor Toruan-Purba