Merremia umbellata (PROSEA)

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Plant Resources of South-East Asia Introduction

List of species

Merremia umbellata (L.) Hallier f. subsp. orientalis (Hallier f.) Ooststr.

Protologue: Fl. Males. ser. I, 4: 449 (1953).

Family: Convolvulaceae

Synonyms

• Convolvulus umbellatus L. (1753).

Vernacular names

• Indonesia: lawatan kebo (Javanese), areuj geureung (Sundanese), daun bisul (Moluccas)
• Malaysia: andur nasi (Peninsular), ulan tapak pelandok
• Philippines: kalamitmit (Tagbanua), bangbangau (Iloko), kamokamotihan (Tagalog)
• Thailand: chingcho khaao (northern), thao dok baan tuum (south-eastern), en (peninsular)
• Vietnam: bìm tán.

Distribution

M. umbellata subsp. orientalis occurs from tropical East Africa, Seychelles, India, Sri Lanka eastwards to China, Indo-China, Thailand, and southwards through Malesia to northern Australia. Subsp. umbellata occurs in America from Mexico to Paraguay, in the West Indies and in tropical West Africa.

Uses

In Peninsular Malaysia and the Moluccas, pounded leaves are used to poultice burns, sores and scalds. In Indonesia, a poultice of the leaves, together with Curcuma powder (Curcuma longa L.) is applied on cracks in the soles of the feet. The seeds yield a mucilage used as an aperient and alterative in cutaneous diseases. In Indo-China, the latex of the root is taken as a purgative. In the Philippines, a decoction of the roots is drunk as a remedy for haematuria.

Observations

• An annual twiner, 1-3 m long, sometimes prostrate, terete, softly pubescent or glabrescent, young parts with milky juice.
• Leaves ovate to oblong, 4-12(-16) cm × 1-6.5(-9) cm, base cordate, rounded or truncate, basal lobes rounded or angular, apex acuminate, both sides sparsely to densely hairy, petiole 1.5-6 cm long.
• Cymes few- to many-flowered, umbelliform, peduncle 1-4(-7) cm long, bracts minute, caducous.
• Flower-buds ovoid, pedicel 5-9 mm long, sepals subequal, concave, broadly elliptical or orbicular, 5-7 mm long, corolla funnel-shaped, 2-3 cm long, white, rarely yellow to orange, middle part mid-petaline bands hairy, anthers straight.
• Capsule ovoid to conical, 10-12 mm high, mucronate by style-base, glabrous or sparsely hairy at top.
• Seeds 5 mm long, densely hairy with soft, patent hairs.

M. umbellata occurs in thickets, along edges of forests, in plantations, in grasslands, along fields and roadsides, from sea-level up to 1100 m altitude. Subsp. umbellata (synonym var. occidentalis Hallier f.) differs from subsp. orientalis in its more robust habit, with larger leaves, longer peduncles, more and larger yellow flowers, a subglobose capsule, with broader, ovate valves, and seeds shorter pubescent.

Selected sources

• [134] Burkill, H.M., 1985—2000. The useful plants of West tropical Africa. 2nd Edition. 5 volumes. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, United Kingdom. Vol. 1 (1985), Families A—D, 960 pp.; Vol. 2 (1994), Families E—I, 636 pp.; Vol. 3 (1995), Families J—L, 857 pp.; Vol. 4 (1997), Families M—R, 969 pp; Vol. 5 (2000), Families S—Z, 686 pp.
• [215] Council of Scientific and Industrial Research, 1948—1976. The wealth of India: a dictionary of Indian raw materials & industrial products. 11 volumes. Publications and Information Directorate, New Delhi, India.
• [407] 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.
• [786] Perry, L.M., 1980. Medicinal plants of East and Southeast Asia. Attributed properties and uses. MIT Press, Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States & London, United Kingdom. 620 pp.

Main genus page

• Merremia

Authors

• Muhammad Mansur