Ophiorrhiza mungos L.
Family
Rubiaceae
Synonyms
Ophiorrhiza singaporensis Ridl.
Vernacular Names
| Malaysia | Pokok sumpu badak |
| English | Mongoose plant |
| Philippines | Payang payang gubat (Tagalog), kayotimokan (Bagobo), lumai (Bikol) |
Geographical Distributions
The plant is distributed from India, Sri Lanka, to Indo-China, Thailand, Peninsular Malaysia, Sumatra, Java and the Philippines.
Description
This plant is a semi-woody, erect, normally hairless herb, and usually 10-50(-80) cm tall.
Leaves are narrow, oval to lance-shaped, 4-12 cm x 2-6 cm with pointed base and apex. The petiole is 8-25 mm long and stipules are 4-5 mm long. Its cyme is more or less flat-topped, 2-12 cm in diametre. Branches are sub-umbellate, spreading, hairy or smooth with bracts absent. The pedicel and sepal teeth are short. Petal is white with 7-8 mm long tube, short, obtuse and keeled lobes.
The capsule is 2-3 mm long with 6-8 mm in diametre.
Ecology / Cultivation
O. mungos occurs in primary and secondary forests, in moist localities, up to 400 m altitude.
Line Drawing / Photograph
References
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Plant Resources of South-East Asia No 12(2): Medicinal and poisonous plants 2.
