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12(2): Medicinal and poisonous plants 2

Tabernaemontana divaricata (L.) R.Br. ex Roem. & Schult.

This article should be read together with the article on the genus: Tabernaemontana in the Handbook volume indicated above in this database.

Syst. veg. 4: 427 (1819).

Tabernaemontana coronaria (Jacq.) Willd. (1809), Ervatamia divaricata (L.) Burkill (1925), Tabernaemontana siamensis Warb. ex Pitard (1933).

Coffee rose (double-flowered plants, En), East-Indian rose-bay, crape jasmine (En). Indonesia: mondokaki (Javanese), bunga nyingin (Balinese), bunga manila (Moluccas). Malaysia: susun kelapa, bunga susu, susok ayam. Philippines: pandakaking-tsina (Tagalog). Thailand: phut sa, phut suan (central). Vietnam: b[as]nh h[or]i, ng[oj]c b[us]t.

Native to northern and eastern India, Nepal, Bhutan, Bangladesh, Burma (Myanmar), northern Thailand and southern China. Cultivated throughout the tropics for its ornamental and fragrant flowers.

In Peninsular Malaysia and Thailand, the pounded leaves are an ingredient of a cough medicine taken as an infusion. The pounded roots are applied to sore eyes, but in India, the same complaint is treated using the flowers mixed with oil. In Indonesia, a decoction of the roots is used as an astringent for diarrhoea and various abdominal complaints. In Thailand, the plant is used as an emetic. In Indo-China, an infusion of the roots is applied as a remedy for jungle fever. In India, the applications in traditional medicine are so numerous the plant may well be classified as a panacea for gastro-intestinal, urogenital and skin affections. In northern India, the latex of the leaves is used as a cooling application for wounds to prevent inflammation. The root is employed as a local anodyne and chewed for the relief of toothache. The plant is a constituent of various medicines for the treatment of eye conditions. The wood is used as a refrigerant. The wood is also used as incense and for perfumery.

A shrub or small tree, 0.5—2(—5) m tall, stem 3—10 cm in diameter; leaves elliptical to narrowly elliptical, 3—18 cm x 1—6 cm, 2.2-4 times longer than wide, apex acuminate, petiole 3—10 mm long; inflorescence rather lax, 3—14 cm x 3—8 cm, 1—30-flowered; flowers sweet-scented, open during the day, sepals pale green, corolla in mature bud 21—35 mm long with a comparatively wide ovoid or sometimes globose head for 25—40% of the length, apex acute or obtuse, tube (6—)7—10 times longer than the calyx, 15—27 mm long, twisted 0.1 turn or not just below the anthers; fruit consisting of 2 separate mericarps, obliquely and narrowly ellipsoid or pod-like, with 2 lateral ridges at each side and an adaxial indented line of dehiscence, orange, red or green, 2—10-seeded, aril deep orange or red. Tabernaemontana divaricata is found in light forest usually in the hills from sea-level to 1400 m altitude.

[135] Burkill, I.H., 1966. A dictionary of the economic products of the Malay Peninsula. Revised reprint. 2 volumes. Ministry of Agriculture and Co-operatives, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Vol. 1 (A—H) pp. 1—1240, Vol. 2 (I—Z) pp. 1241—2444.
[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.
[241] de Padua, L.S., Lugod, G.C. & Pancho, J.V., 1977—1983. Handbook on Philippine medicinal plants. 4 volumes. Documentation and Information Section, Office of the Director of Research, University of the Philippines at Los Baños, the Philippines.
[300] Fatima, N., Shah, Z., Atta-ur-Rahman, Panthong, A., Kanjanapothi, D. & Taesotikul, T., 1990. Antihypertensive and tocolytic activities of Ervatamia coronaria. Fitoterapia 61(2): 156—159.
[374] Guddewar, M.B., Shukla, A. & Pandey, S., 1991. Assessment of insecticidal and ovicidal properties of Tabernaemontana coronaria against red cotton bug (Dysdercus koenigii). Indian Journal of Entomology 53(2): 311—315.
[380] Gutierrez, H.G., 1980—1982. An illustrated manual of Philippine materia medica. 2 volumes. Natural Research Council of the Philippines, Tagig, Metro Manila, the Philippines. Vol. 1 (1980) pp. 1—234, Vol. 2 (1982) pp. 235—485.
[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.
[672] Middleton, D.J., 1999. Apocynaceae. In: Santisuk, T. & Larsen, K. (Editors). Flora of Thailand. Vol. 7(1). The Forest Herbarium, Royal Forest Department, Bangkok, Thailand. pp. 1—153.
[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.
[810] Quisumbing, E., 1978. Medicinal plants of the Philippines. Katha Publishing Co., Quezon City, the Philippines. 1262 pp.

L.S.L. Chua & S.F.A.J. Horsten

Chua, L.S.L & Horsten, S.F.A.J., 2001. Tabernaemontana divaricata (L.) R.Br. ex Roem. & Schult.. In: van Valkenburg, J.L.C.H. and Bunyapraphatsara, N. (Editors): Plant Resources of South-East Asia No 12(2): Medicinal and poisonous plants 2. PROSEA Foundation, Bogor, Indonesia. Database record: prota4u.org/prosea