2631

12(3): Medicinal and poisonous plants 3

Gordonia penangensis Ridley

Journ. Roy. As. Soc. Straits Br. 73: 142 (1916).

THEACEAE

2n = unknown

Gordonia excelsa auct. non Blume.

Peninsular Malaysia and Singapore.

In Peninsular Malaysia a leaf decoction of Gordonia penangensis is said to be used as a beverage to cure diarrhoea and dysentery. In Java the flowers of Gordonia excelsa (Blume) Blume, a species primarily used for its timber, are used medicinally instead of those of Schima wallichii (DC.) Korth., together with many other ingredients, in a draught applied after childbirth. The bark of Gordonia amboinensis (Miq.) Merr., another timber species, has been used as a fish poison. In Taiwan the leaves of Gordonia axillaris (Roxb. ex Ker Gawl.) Endl., a species from Indo-China, China, Taiwan and northern Thailand, are applied as an astringent in folk medicine. The bark of various Gordonia species yields tannin and has been used in Peninsular Malaysia to dye and tan fishing nets and rough clothing.

An active antifungal phenolic derivative has been isolated from the hexane extract of stem bark of Gordonia dassanayakei B.M. Wadhwa & A. Weerasooriya, a Sri Lankan endemic. This compound is active against several plant pathogenic fungi.
A leaf extract of Gordonia axillaris exhibits a significant inhibitory effect on Epstein-Barr virus-specified DNA polymerase. An acylated GAMMA-pyrone glucoside was isolated from the ethyl acetate extract of dried leaves as the active compound. Camelliin B, a macrocyclic hydrolysable tannin, showed cytotoxic effects in human carcinoma cells; in an in-vitro assay, camelliin B dose-dependently induced apoptosis in HeLa cells.

An evergreen, small, slender tree up to 13(—20) m tall; bark smooth. Leaves arranged spirally, simple, narrowly elliptical-lanceolate, 6—10 cm x 2.5—4 cm, base attenuate or caudate, apex acuminate to obliquely caudate, remotely serrulate to almost entire, pinnately veined with 5—8 pairs of lateral veins; petiole slender, 0.5—1 cm long; stipules absent. Flowers solitary, terminal or subterminal on small branches, 2.5—3 cm across, 5-merous; bracteoles 2; sepals ovate or suborbicular, 5—7 mm long, thick-coriaceous and with thinner and ciliate edge, persistent in fruit; petals suborbicular to spatulate, connate at base, chartaceous, yellowish to golden yellow; stamens many, indistinctly grouped in 5 fascicles, shortly connate at base and briefly adnate to the corolla; ovary superior, usually 5-celled, woolly, style 6—7 mm long. Fruit a woody, cylindrical capsule 3.5—5 cm x 1.5—2 cm, dehiscing with 5 valves from the apex to the base along a persistent column. Seeds with a unilateral wing, 2.5—3 cm long. Seedling with epigeal germination; cotyledons leafy; hypocotyl elongated; all leaves arranged spirally.
Gordonia penangenis flowers in February—May and fruits in May—June.
Gordonia comprises about 70 species and occurs in tropical Asia and tropical America with a single species in the south-eastern part of the United States. Tropical Asia comprises some 40 species and Gordonia is found in India, Sri Lanka, Burma (Myanmar), Indo-China, southern China, Taiwan, Thailand, throughout the Malesian region, east to the Bismarck Archipelago. Within Malesia 21 species are recognized. Peninsular Malaysia is richest with 9 species, followed by Borneo (6), Sumatra (4), Java, the Philippines, Sulawesi and the Lesser Sunda Islands (each 2), and the Moluccas and New Guinea (each 1).

Gordonia penangensis is found in open lowland forest up to 500 m altitude.

Gordonia penangensis does not seem to be at immediate risk of genetic erosion. However, habitat destruction of lowland forest areas likewise affects Gordonia penangensis.

Nothing is known about the pharmacological properties of Gordonia penangensis. The selective cytotoxic compounds as present in other Gordonia species warrant further research, and other representavives of the genus should be involved as well.

[56]Athukoralage, P.S., Herath, H.M., Deraniyagala, S.A., Wijesundera, R.L. & Weerasinghe, P.A., 2001. Antifungal constituent from Gordonia dassanayakei. Fitoterapia 72(5): 565—567.
[121]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.
[458]Keng, H., 1984. Florae Malesianae precursores - LVIII, part two. The genus Gordonia (Theaceae) in Malesia. Gardens' Bulletin Singapore 37(1): 1—47.
[883]Sosef, M.S.M., Hong, L.T. & Prawirohatmodjo, S. (Editors), 1998. Plant Resources of South-East Asia No 5(3). Timber trees: Lesser-known timbers. Backhuys Publishers, Leiden, the Netherlands. 859 pp.
[978]Wang, C.C., Chen, L.G. & Yang, L.L., 2001. Camelliin B induced apoptosis in HeLa cell line. Toxicology 168(3): 231—240.

[459]Keng, H., 1990. The concise flora of Singapore. Gymnosperms and Dicotyledons. Singapore University Press, Singapore. 222 pp.
[990]Whitmore, T.C. & Ng, F.S.P. (Editors), 1972—1989. Tree flora of Malaya. A manual for foresters. 2nd Edition. 4 volumes. Malayan Forest Records No 26. Longman Malaysia Sdn. Berhad, Kuala Lumpur & Petaling Jaya, Malaysia.

Titi Kalima

Kalima, T., 2003. Gordonia penangensis Ridley. In: Lemmens, R.H.M.J. and Bunyapraphatsara, N. (Editors): Plant Resources of South-East Asia No 12(3): Medicinal and poisonous plants 3. PROSEA Foundation, Bogor, Indonesia. Database record: prota4u.org/prosea