1384

12(2): Medicinal and poisonous plants 2

Zanthoxylum rhetsa (Roxb.) DC.

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

Prodr. 1: 728 (1824).

Fagara rhetsa Roxb. (1820), Zanthoxylum budrunga (Roxb.) DC. (1824), Zanthoxylum limonella (Dennst.) Alston (1931).

Indian ivy-rue (En). Indonesia: kayu lemah (Javanese), kayu tana (Madurese), ki tanah (Sundanese). Malaysia: hantu duri (Peninsular). Philippines: kayetana (Tagalog), salai (Bisaya), kasabang (Iloko). Burma (Myanmar): kathit-pyu. Laos: khên1, khouang. Thailand: kamchat ton, luuk ra maat (central), ma khuang (northern). Vietnam: ho[af]ng m[ooj]c h[oo]i, c[os]c h[oo]i, s[er]n h[oo]i.

From India and Sri Lanka to Burma (Myanmar), Indo-China, Thailand, Peninsular Malaysia, Java, the Lesser Sunda Islands, Moluccas (Wetar), Sulawesi, the Philippines and southern Papua New Guinea.

In the Philippines, the bark pounded and mixed with oil is used externally as a remedy for stomach pains. A decoction of the bark is taken internally as a cure for pains in the chest. When chewed it is applied to snakebites. In India, the fruits are used in dyspepsia, asthma and bronchitis, heart troubles, toothache and rheumatism. The pericarps are credited with astringent, stimulant and digestive properties. The oil obtained by steam distillation is used as a traditional remedy for cholera. It is further applied as an antiseptic and disinfectant. In Java, the young fruits are eaten as a spice. In Burma (Myanmar), the young leaves are used as a seasoning.

A dioecious, deciduous, medium-sized tree, up to 35 m tall, branches sparsely armed with straight or ascending prickles, generally swollen and hollow; leaves alternate, paripinnate or imparipinnate, 30—40 cm long, leaflets opposite to subopposite, 10—17, ovate to elliptical, 7—13 cm x 3—5 cm, occasionally pellucid dotted, margin entire to glandular crenate; panicle terminal or axillary, 8—14 cm long; flowers up to 2.5 mm long, 4-merous, sepals 4, petals 4, white or pale yellow; male flowers with 4 stamens, rudimentary carpel 1; female flowers with ovary 1-carpellate; follicle subglobose, 6—7 mm in diameter, single. Zanthoxylum rhetsa occurs in rather dry, often monsoonal forest and thickets from sea-level up to 500 m altitude.

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Tahan Uji

Uji, T., 2001. Zanthoxylum rhetsa (Roxb.) DC.. 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