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12(1): Medicinal and poisonous plants 1

Senna sophera (L.) Roxb.

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

Fl. ind., ed. 2, 2: 347 (1832).

Cassia sophera L. (1753).

Indonesia: enceng-enceng (Javanese). Philippines: andadasi (Iloko), tambalisa (Tagalog). Laos: ngot. Thailand: phak khlet (Bangkok), phak waan baan (central). Vietnam: mu[oof] ng[os]t, mu[oof]ng h[of]e.

Originating from the New World tropics, but now pantropical.

In Indonesia, extracts of all plant parts are used to treat epilepsy. In the Philippines, the seeds are used to treat fever. In India, the juice of the leaves is applied against ringworm, while it is also employed as an expectorant, an anthelminthic and as a remedy for rheumatic and inflammatory fevers. Besides these applications, in Thailand the leaves are used for wound healing and as an antipyretic.

An erect shrub, 1-2(-3) m tall, almost glabrous; leaves with 4-10 pairs of leaflets, petiole 3-5 cm long, with a thin, subulate or clavate gland 5-10 mm above the petiole joint, leaflets lanceolate, 2-5(-8) cm x 1-2 cm, upper leaflets largest, base rounded, apex acute; inflorescence an axillary corymb, few-flowered; flowers with ovate sepals 5 mm long, petals obovate, 10-14 mm x 6-8 mm, yellow, 2 longer stamens with filaments 5-7 mm long and anthers 5-6 mm long, 4 shorter stamens with filaments 2 mm long and anthers 5 mm long, 3-4 staminodes, ovary pubescent, style thin, glabrous, stigma slightly dilated, strongly incurved; fruit 6-10 cm x 0.5-1 cm; seeds 30-40 per pod, ovoid, compressed, 3-4 mm long. Senna sophera occurs in secondary habitats such as roadsides and wast places at lower elevations.

[97] Backer, C.A. & Bakhuizen van den Brink Jr, R.C., 1963-1968. Flora of Java. 3 volumes. Noordhoff, Groningen, the Netherlands. Vol. 1 (1963) 647 pp., Vol. 2 (1965) 641 pp., Vol. 3 (1968) 761 pp.
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[817] Larsen, K., Larsen, S.S. & Vidal, J.E., 1980. Légumineuses-Caesalpinioïdées [Leguminosae-Caesalpinioideae]. In: Vidal, J.E. & Vidal, Y. (Editors): Flore du Cambodge, du Laos et du Viêtnam [Flora of Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam]. Vol. 18. Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle, Paris, France. 227 pp.
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Anny Victor Toruan-Purba

Toruan-Purba, A.V., 1999. Senna sophera (L.) Roxb.. In: de Padua, L.S., Bunyapraphatsara, N. and Lemmens, R.H.M.J. (Editors): Plant Resources of South-East Asia No 12(1): Medicinal and poisonous plants 1. PROSEA Foundation, Bogor, Indonesia. Database record: prota4u.org/prosea