980

12(2): Medicinal and poisonous plants 2

Calotropis gigantea (L.) Aiton f.

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

Hort. kew. 2, 2: 78 (1810).

Asclepias gigantea L. (1753).

Crown flower, giant Indian milkweed (En). Faux arbre de soie, mercure végétal (Fr). Indonesia: bidhuri (Sundanese, Madurese), sidaguri (Javanese), rubik (Aceh). Malaysia: remiga, rembega, kemengu. Philippines: kapal-kapal (Tagalog). Laos: kok may, dok kap, dok hak. Thailand: po thuean, paan thuean (northern), rak (central). Vietnam: b[oof]ng b[oof]ng, l[as] hen, nam t[if] b[af].

From India and Sri Lanka to Thailand and southern China, naturalized in Malesia and Hawaii in coastal areas, and planted in villages.

The French name 'mercure végétal' refers to its use as an alternative to mercury in the treatment of syphilis. Immigrants from India in South-East Asia use it widely, and the uses have thus spread. The leaves are applied as a poultice for sores, and the juice is dropped into deaf ears and sore eyes. The smoke of the burnt leaves is inhaled to treat ulcerations of the nose. The latex is dropped into teeth with caries, and is applied to boils.

A large shrub or small tree, 3—4(—10) m tall, stems erect, up to 20 cm in diameter; leaves broadly elliptical to oblong-obovate, 9—20 cm x 6—12.5 cm, subsessile; cymes 5—12.5 cm in diameter, peduncle 5—12 cm long, pedicel 2.5—4 cm long, calyx lobes broadly ovate, 4—6 mm x 2—3 mm, corolla 2.5—4 cm in diameter, lobes broadly triangular, 10—15 mm x 5—8 mm, pale lilac, cream coloured towards the tips, corona with 5 narrow scales, fleshy, laterally compressed, 5—8 mm long, adnate to and shorter than the staminal column, forming an upturned horn with 2 obtuse auricles on either side, cream coloured or lilac to purple, with a dense longitudinal dorsal row of short white hairs; follicles mostly in pairs, ovoid, boat-shaped, inflated, 6.5—10 cm x 3—5 cm. Calotropis gigantea is a common weed in open waste ground, roadsides and railway lines, as well as village surroundings. It is found in semi-cultivated state throughout Indo-China.

[44] Ali, A.M., Mackeen, M.M., El-Sharkawy, S.H., Hamid, J.A., Ismael, N.H., Ahmad, F.B.D. & Lajis, N.H., 1996. Antiviral and cytotoxic activities of some plants used in Malaysian indigenous medicine. Pertanika 19(2—3): 129—136.
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[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.
[739] Nguyen Van Duong, 1993. Medicinal plants of Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos. Mekong Printing, Santa Ana, California, United States. 528 pp.
[788] Pételot, A., 1952—1954. Les plantes médicinales du Cambodge, du Laos et du Vietnam [The medicinal plants of Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam]. 4 volumes. Centre National de Recherches Scientifiques et Techniques, Saigon, Vietnam.
[810] Quisumbing, E., 1978. Medicinal plants of the Philippines. Katha Publishing Co., Quezon City, the Philippines. 1262 pp.
[826] Rao, B.S.B., Sarkar, H.B.P. & Sheshadri, H.S., 1974. Effect of latex of Calotropis gigantea on pregnancy in albino rat. Journal of Reproduction and Fertility 38(2): 234—236.
[990] Tantiwechwuttikul, W., 1984. An observation on plant spacing of Calotropis gigantea R. Br. Monograph, Bangkok, Thailand. 15 pp. (in Thai)

R. Kiew

Kiew, R., 2001. Calotropis gigantea (L.) Aiton f.. 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