Bryophyllum pinnatum
Family
Crassulaceae
Synonyms
Cotyledon pinnata Lamk , Bryophyllum calycinum Salish., Kalanchoe pinnata (Lamk) Pers.
Vernacular Names
| Malaysia | Sedingin, seringin, setawar padang. |
| English | Life plant, floppers. |
| Brunei | Bendingin, serigen. |
| Indonesia | Daun sejuk (Malay, Palembang), buntiris (Sundanese), sosor bebek (Javanese). |
| Philippines | Karitana (Bisaya), abisrana (Iloko), katakataka (Tagalog). |
| Burma (Myanmar) | Yoekiyapinba. |
| Laos | Poun tay, poun po. |
| Thailand | Benchachat (central), ton tai bai pen, khwum taai ngaai pen. |
| Vietnam | C[aa]y thu[oos]c b[or]ng, c[aa]y tr[uw] [owf]ng sinh, l[aj]c d[ij]a sinh c[aw]n. |
Geographical Distributions
B. pinnatum has a pantropical distribution. In Malesia it is naturalised throughout the region. In many places it is a weed; on the other hand it is reported to be cultivated in Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines and Indo-China.
Description
This plant is a smooth, robust and unbranched herb that can grow 30-200 cm tall.
The leaves are fleshy and leathery when older. The younger ones have simple arrangement, egg-shaped with cordate or rounded base while the upper ones is pinnate with 3-5 leaflets that are sized at 5 – 9(-20) cm x 2.5-5 cm. Its base is wedge-shaped while the apex is blunt. The margin is notched with blunt or rounded teeth. Inflorescence is a lax terminal cyme, 10-80 cm long.
The flowers are pendulous, with a cylindrical sepal up to 25 mm x 8 mm. Sepal is slightly indented at the base with the lobes ovate-triangular, very acutely acuminate, 7-12 mm long. The 30 mm long petal tube is cylindrical which is strongly constricted at about 8 mm from the base. The petal lobes are oblong-egg-shaped, about 6 mm long and abruptly long acuminate. They are green in the lower half and red in the upper half.
Ecology / Cultivation
B. pinnatum is found in dry rather sunny locations near human habitation up to 1000 m altitude.
Line Drawing / Photograph
References
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Plant Resources of South-East Asia No 12(1): Medicinal and poisonous plants 1.
