2779

12(3): Medicinal and poisonous plants 3

Morinda elliptica (Hook.f.) Ridley

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

Journ. Roy. As. Soc. Straits Br. 79: 86 (1918).

Malaysia: mengkudu daun kecil (Peninsular). Thailand: muu-duu (Malay, Narathiwat), yo thuean (Chumphon), yo paa (Trang, Satun).

Burma (Myanmar), Thailand and Peninsular Malaysia.

In Peninsular Malaysia, the leaves are used to treat fever, cholera, diarrhoea, convulsions, loss of appetite and headache; they are also applied externally, pounded or as a lotion, to treat wounds, haemorrhoids, and are also administered after childbirth. The root bark is used to treat fishing nets and sails.

A small to medium-sized tree up to 16 m tall; leaves narrowly to broadly elliptical, up to 18 cm x 9 cm; inflorescence a terminal cluster of 2—3 peduncled heads up to 1 cm in diameter; corolla tube subequal to lobes, white; compound fruit globose to ovoid, up to 2 cm long, ripening black. Morinda elliptica occurs in secondary forest and open habitats, and is common.

[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.
[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.

Nguyen Tap & Nguyen Kim Bich

Tap, N. & Bich, N.K., 2003. Morinda elliptica (Hook.f.) 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